Dr Tessa Murdoch FSA, formerly Head of the Metalwork Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum and now a board member of the Huguenot Museum of the French Hospital at Rochester, gave the Friends a most interesting lecture on the treasures of the Huguenot Museum at Lenham on 28 March.
The French Hospital was founded in London in 1718 to help poor French Protestants – Huguenots – and their descendants. It moved to Rochester in 1959 and the museum opened in 2015. Dr Murdoch explained the history of the Huguenot settlement in England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1689 had driven much of the Protestant population of France to leave that country. Many settled in England, bringing their skills as weavers, gold and silversmiths, cabinet-makers and so forth with them.
The French Hospital, Rochester
Dr Murdoch described some of the museum’s treasures, especially its rich collection of church plate, which illustrates the impact that immigrant Huguenot goldsmiths made on 18th century England. Not only did Huguenots add significantly to the pool of talent on this side of the Channel but they influenced English taste.
Many of those present will have gone home determined to visit one of Kent’s less well- known treasures.