The Pitt Library, Battersea Rise House

Oil painting by F.N. Bursill depicting The Pit Library, Battersea Rise House. c1905.

This painting of the Pit Library in Battersea captures a glimpse of the building though a clearing in the nature of the grounds, probably a garden. We can see a circular apse of the building with multiple windows and chimneys, partially obscured by lush foliage. The foreground features a vibrant garden with colourful flowers, adding to the overall charm and tranquillity of the setting. A female figure in a red skirt and white shirt and hat, and holding a red umbrella or parasol, stands near the building, introducing a human element to the scene.

Historically, Battersea Rise House was home to Henry Thornton, a prominent banker and philanthropist, who purchased the estate in 1792. His cousin and close friend William Wilberforce, the famed abolitionist, also lived here until Thornton’s marriage. Together, they were leading figures in the Clapham Sect, a group of evangelical reformers dedicated to social justice and the abolition of the slave trade. The house’s purpose-built library served as the main meeting place for the sect, making it a hub of progressive thought and activism in late 18th-century Britain.

Though the house was demolished in 1907, its legacy endures through its association with one of the most influential social movements of its time.