The Seville of Richard Ford

English travel writer Richard Ford (1796 - 1858) was  immediately captivated by Seville’s mystique when he visited in the 19^th century, claiming it was his preferred Spanish city. Ford noted that the cathedral offers ‘a most interesting epitome of the rise, progress and decline of Spanish church architecture’.

Born into a wealthy family in Chelsea, London, Ford was educated at Oxford. His first trip to Spain with his first wife, Harriet, in 1830, resulted in A Handbook for Travellers in Spain, which was published 1845. The book has been republished numerous times and is still considered one the greatest pieces of travel literature ever published.

Following the premature death of his second son, and the consequent depression and decline in Harriet's health, Ford decided to spend the winter in a more suitable climate. After consulting several friends, like William Mark, English consul in Málaga, and Henry Unwin Addington, British ambassador in Madrid, Ford decided that southern Spain would be a promising and pleasant destination.

Ford and his family arrived in Cádiz at the beginning of November 1830, and after spending a week in the city, they travelled to Seville on a steamboat along the Guadalquivir river. 

Seville, which he described as ‘stately’, was their base for around three years, with the exception of summer periods that they spent at the Alhambra Palace in Granada.

The Fords first rented a house in Plazuela de San Isidoro, which was owned by Frank Standish, the Englishman who had helped Benjamin Disraeli when he first arrived in Andalucía in 1830.  They lived there for the first year, before moving into the Monsalves Palace. It was while staying at this grand palace that the Fords, who arrived in Seville with a letter of introduction from the Duke of Wellington, are said to have hosted elaborate parties attended by the hierarchy of Sevillian society.

Along with Harriet, also a competent artist, Ford made many topographical drawings of Seville which are considered an important record of the period, seeing as many of the buildings have since been demolished, or altered considerably. Ford also kept detailed notebooks in which he described with his masterful narration what he had observed. He claimed that Seville, ‘the marvel of Andalucía’, could not be seen in less than a week, and that the best time to visit was during the Holy Week, before the ‘great summer heats commence’. 

Richard Ford in Seville

He was impressed that the city was still enclosed by Moorish walls built of ‘tapia’, a technique that consists of constructing walls made of earth generally mixed with other materials such as straw or plant fibres to increase their strength.

He observed that many of the Moorish houses had been preserved and that they were perfectly suited to Seville’s dry climate, adding, ‘The narrow tortuous streets which keep out the sun, and the wide spacious mansions with cool courts and gardens, prove how wise the Moors were.’ He noted that the windows were ‘barricaded with rejas’, and that these windows ‘form the evening rendezvous to the cloaked lover who whispers soft nothings to his bar-imprisoned sweetheart’. He also noted that the houses were enriched with Moorish tiling and had interiors built around an open square courtyard or patio with marble pillars, and a ‘fountain playing in the middle’. Little has changed since then...

Excerpt from Seville: a legacy of enchantment. Available from Amazon from Monday 2 March 2026