Easter time travel: An 18th century London ‘folly’ linked to India adventure
Easter is a good day to visit Severndroog Castle, an 18th century architectural ‘folly’ in southeast London.
Severndroog is said to be one of the highest points in London. It sits in ancient woodland, parts of which are 8,000 years old. It is an excellent vantage point to look on the labours and loves of the capital of a once far-flung empire.
It’s also a suitable spot to contemplate hubris. The Castle is a grand term for a narrow structure, albeit with turrets. Severndroog has never served as a castle, lacking the ability and accommodations to do so. It is a ‘folly’, in that it never had a useful purpose other than vanity.
But it is a magnificent place to consider the passage of time.
When Severndroog Castle was built, much of Britain might have believed the sun would never set on its India chapter. This started with the mercantilist adventure embarked on by the East India Company. It was only later that the buccaneering venture transitioned to a British state-supported endeavour to hold and keep Indian territories and the wealth they continually and reliably generated for London.
Severndroog was built by the widow of Commodore Sir William James, an East India Company officer. The ‘castle’ commemorates Sir William’s 1755 triumph over the island fortress of Suvarnadurg on the western coast of India. After Sir William’s death, his grieving widow built Severndroog Castle, its name an English mangling of Suvarnadurg.
Fast forward to the present day and visitors to Severndroog Castle curiously read (and soon forget) its history as spelt out on the informational signs dotted around. The battle over Suvarnadurg is 269 years in the past. Most Indians in India would not know of it. Most Britons don’t either. That brief moment of glory and hostility is gone.
But Easter’s promise hangs in the air.
Originally published at https://www.rashmee.com
