The Grange - Chennai

There was a time when the banks of the Adyar looked very different from what we see today.

During the colonial period, large garden houses stood amidst spacious grounds along the river. Many belonged to British officials, lawyers and businessmen. Some disappeared as Chennai expanded. A few survived.

The Grange, on Greenways Road, is one of them.

Built in 1853, this impressive old house has survived more than 170 years of changing owners, changing names and a city that has steadily grown around it.

Before The Grange

The story of the property goes back even further than the building.

Records from 1803 identify the land as belonging to the Kadari and Kumeswara temples. The estate was then extensive, covering around 61 acres. Alanda Narayanaswami Naik, who administered the temple properties, also owned large stretches of land along the northern bank of the Adyar.

Financial difficulties eventually led to his properties being auctioned in the early nineteenth century. Over the following decades, Europeans began acquiring land in this part of Madras, and several of the famous garden houses along the Adyar appeared during this period.

Norton's Gardens

In 1853, John Bruce Norton, a prominent lawyer who later became Advocate-General of Madras, built the house that we see today.

The property became known as Norton's Gardens.

Norton was also the father of Eardley Norton, who would later become one of the best-known barristers of Madras.

The house subsequently passed through several hands. At one stage it belonged to a partner of the well-known firm Arbuthnot & Co., and later to the Rajah of Vizianagaram. Eventually it came into the possession of P. Venkatachellum.

Around 1907, the property acquired the name by which we remember it today: The Grange.

The Government purchased it from Venkatachellum in 1917.

Inside The Grange

The history is interesting, but the building itself was what stayed with me.

The large hall, broad balconies and wooden staircase immediately give some idea of the scale on which these garden houses were conceived. The windows have decorative detailing, and even the ceiling makes you stop and look up.

These are not details that need extravagant descriptions. The size of the rooms and the workmanship tell their own story.

Standing inside, it is also difficult not to imagine how different the surroundings must once have been. The Grange was not built as a house squeezed between modern constructions. It stood within a vast garden estate near the Adyar.

Most of that open setting has disappeared.

The house has survived.

The Grange Becomes Kanchi

The Government later used the property for training purposes, and The Grange came to be known as Kanchi. Government training institutions, including the Anna Institute of Management, have been associated with the campus.

Today, newer buildings occupy much of the land around the old mansion.

That contrast is perhaps what makes The Grange more interesting now.

Once, houses like this formed an entire landscape along the Adyar. Brodie Castle, Moubray's Garden, Serle's Gardens, Bishop's Gardens and several others were part of that world. Some survive in altered forms. Others exist only in old records and photographs.

The Grange is fortunate.

More than 170 years after John Bruce Norton built his garden house, you can still walk through its large hall, climb its wooden staircase and look at those old windows and ceilings.

Sometimes the most interesting thing about a heritage building is simply that it is still there.

Happy travelling.

Acknowledgement: Historical information in the original version of this article was gathered from articles published in The Hindu, including the writings of Chennai historian S. Muthiah.