East India House

East India House
The extended East India House in c. 1800, painted by Thomas Malton
General information
Status	Demolished
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Address	Leadenhall Street
Town or city	City of London
Country	Great Britain
Coordinates	51°30′47″N 0°04′55″W / 51.513°N 0.082°W / 51.513; -0.082
Completed	1729
Renovated	1796–1800
Demolished	1861
Client	East India Company
Height
Top floor	4
Technical details
Floor count	4
Design and construction
Architect	Theodore Jacobsen Henry Holland Richard Jupp

East India House was the London headquarters of the East India Company, from which much of British India was governed until the British government took control of the Company's possessions in India in 1858. It was located in Leadenhall Street in the City of London. The first East India House on the site was an Elizabethan mansion, previously known as Craven House, which the Company first occupied in 1648. This was completely rebuilt in 1726–29; and further remodelled and extended in 1796–1800. It was demolished in 1861.

The East India Company was founded in 1600. Until 1621, it occupied rooms in the mansion of its Governor, Sir Thomas Smythe, in Philpot Lane, Fenchurch Street; and from 1621 to 1638 it was housed in Crosby House, Bishopsgate. In 1638 it moved into the house of its new Governor, Sir Christopher Clitherow, in Leadenhall Street. Clitherow died in 1641, and although the Company remained in occupation it found the premises increasingly cramped.

In 1648, therefore, it took a lease on the adjoining property, Craven House, a late Elizabethan mansion built by Sir Robert Lee, Lord Mayor of London, and named after one of his successors, Sir William Craven, who had occupied it at a later date. By 1661 the building was known as East India House. In that year, the frontage was given an ornamental wooden superstructure decorated with paintings of some of the Company's ships, and surmounted by a wooden sculpture of a seaman. Over the years following, various improvements and extensions were made to the premises; and in 1710 a contract was signed for the Company to buy the property from Lord Craven (although the purchase was not in fact completed until 1733). Further extensions were made, but by the mid 1720s the mansion was considered to be in such poor condition, and the Company's need for additional space so pressing, as to justify complete rebuilding. To allow this to take place, the Company moved into temporary premises in Fenchurch Street early in 1726.