It is named after the House of Bruce who formerly owned the land on which it is built. Believed to stand on the site of an earlier building, about which little is known, the current house is one of the oldest surviving English brick houses. It was remodelled in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The house has been home to Sir William Compton, the Barons Coleraine and Sir Rowland Hill, among others. After serving as a school during the 19th century, when a large extension was built to the west, it was converted into a museum exploring the history of the areas which constitute the present London Borough of Haringey and, on the strength of its connection with Sir Rowland Hill, the history of the Royal Mail. The building also houses the archives of the London Borough of Haringey. Since 1892 the grounds have been a public park, Tottenham’s oldest.

A detached, cylindrical Tudor tower stands immediately to the southeast of the house, and is generally considered to be the earliest part of the building; however, Lysons believes it to have been a later addition. The tower is built of local red brick, and is 6 metres tall, with walls 1 metre thick.

Sources disagree on the house’s initial construction date, and no records survive of its construction. There is some archaeological evidence dating parts of the building to the 15th century; William Robinson’s History and Antiquities of the Parish of Tottenham (1840) suggests a date of about 1514, although the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments attributes it to the late 16th century. Nikolaus Pevsner speculates that the front may have formed part of a courtyard house of which the remainder has disappeared.

The principal facade of the Grade I mansion has been substantially remodelled over time. The house is constructed of red brick with ashlar quoining and the principal facade, terminated by symmetrical matching bays, has tall paned windows. The house and detached tower are among the earliest uses of brick as the principal building material for an English house.

Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine (1635–1708) oversaw a substantial remodelling of the house in 1684, and much of the existing south facade dates from that time. The end bays were heightened, and the central porch was rebuilt with stone quoins and pilasters, a balustraded top and a small tower and cupola. A plan from 1684 shows the hall in the centre of the house, with service rooms to the west and the main parlour to the east. On the first floor, the dining room was over the hall, the main bedchamber over the kitchen, and a lady’s chamber over the porch.

In the early 18th century Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine (1694–1749) oversaw a remodelling of the north of the house, in which an extra range of rooms was added to the north and the Coleraine coat of arms added to the pediment of the north facade. In the late 18th century, under the ownership of James Townsend, the narrow east facade of the house was remodelled into an entrance front, and given the appearance of a typical Georgian house. At the same time, the gabled attics on the south front were removed, giving the southern elevation of the house its current appearance. An inventory of the house made in 1789 in preparation for its sale listed a hall, saloon, drawing room, dining room and breakfast parlour on the ground floor, with a library and billiard room on the first floor.

In the early 19th century the west wing of the house was demolished, leaving it with the asymmetrical appearance that it retains today. The house was converted into a school, and in 1870 a three-story extension was built in the Gothic Revival style to the northwest of the house.

The 2006 excavations by the Museum of London uncovered the chalk foundations of an earlier building on the site, of which nothing is currently known. Court rolls of 1742 refer to the repair of a drawbridge, implying that the building then had a moat. A 1911 archaeological journal made passing reference to the recent levelling of the moat.

The Bruce Castle Museum is a local history museum housing the Borough of Haringey’s collections and archives, including material relating to Alexandra Palace.


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