'Fair Thames Washes the Reedy Banks By Syon House', c1935. View of Syon House in south-west London, seen from the River Thames. Formerly the site of an abbey, the estate was acquired after the dissolution of the monasteries by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector to Edward VI. The duke built the house in Italian Renaissance style between 1547 and 1552. After his execution, Syon passed to his rival John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and the house has been the London residence of the Dukes of Northumberland ever since. In the 18th century, Capability Brown was commissioned to lay out the gardens. From "Wonderful London, Volume 2", edited by Arthur St John Adcock. [The Fleetway House, London, c1935]