Kristine Hughes – Page 222 – Number One London

Musing About Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House, home to the Cavendish family since 1549, has been labelled the ‘Palace of the Peak’ and features more than 30 rooms, a large library and magnificent collections of paintings and sculpture. Additionally, the grounds include a 105-acre garden and a park on the banks of the river Derwent. Recently, and apropos of absolutely nothing, I was musing about Chatsworth and concluded that it remains my personal favourite when it comes to Stately Homes. There are many reasons for this:

1. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, once lived there.

2. So did the Duke and Bess Foster.

3. When you arrive at Chatsworth House on a visit, you’re likely to be cautioned to mind the present Duchess’s chickens, who are allowed to wander, willy nilly, in the grounds.

4. During a visit to Chatsworth House in 1843 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Orangery in the grounds (above), designed by Joseph Paxton, served as the inspiration for Prince Albert’s idea for the design of the Crystal Palace.

5. Chatsworth House features the hands down, absolute best gift shops. Seriously good. There are six of them. All with different themes and goods. Go prepared and bring an empty carry-all with you. Trust me on this.

6. You can gaze upon the Gainesborough portrait of Georgiana (see Number 1 above), which has a long and twisted history. For the full story, click here to read a previous blog post about the theft of the painting. And by the way, you can purchase a print of the image directly from Chatsworth House by clicking here.

7. The trompe l’oeil door and violin in the State Music Room painted by artist Jan van der Vaart circa 1723. Your first glimpse of the masterpiece will be from afar. Bear in mind that the inner door, the violin and bow and the silver knob from which they appear to be “hanging” are all an illusionist painting.

The next time you’re in or near the Peak District, I urge you to visit Chatsworth House. If you’ve already been, make a return visit and take in all that you missed the first time around. In the meantime, you can watch a stunning slideshow of Chatsworth House images here.

Speaking of Bridget Jones . . .

And really, these days who isn’t speaking of her? Not only is Bridget Jones 3 in the works, there’s soon to be a musical based on the story. Tapped to play the lead role in Bridget Jones: The Musical, actress Sheridan Smith is currently enjoying pigging out in order to gain weight for the role, unlike Renee Zellweger, who emphatically said that she wasn’t willing to gain a pound when Bridget Jones 3 goes into production.

A svelte Zellweger at LAX on July 9

Sheridan said: “I can just eat what I want. At the minute I’ve been eating burgers and it’s great. I’m not really one for eating salads anyway, but the fact that I have to put on weight is even better.

“There will be a lot of dancing, that’s the thing – it’s just wondering whether you can keep it on doing eight shows a week. But I’ll eat loads don’t worry!

“Chocolate, cakes burgers, pizza, the lot. All my favourite foods. Jamie Oliver would kill me for saying things like that wouldn’t he?!”

British pop star Lily Allen was chosen to write the music for the show and recently confirmed to Britain’s Elle magazine that she is almost finished writing the songs, and that we can expect the musical to hit in London’s West End in 2012. The play will be scripted by Bridget Jones author Fielding and produced by Working Title.

No concrete word yet on who will playing Mark Darcy or Daniel Cleaver. Stay tuned . . .

Speaking of Bridget Jones . . . .

Happy, happy, joy, joy! Just days ago, Colin Firth confirmed that plans for Bridget Jones 3 are well under way. Details remain sketchy, but the Christmas season will once again figure into the plot, as well as trouble with a capital T in the form of Daniel Cleaver. With luck, another hilarious fight scene between Mark Darcy and Daniel will also be in the cards. All of the main cast members are slated to return. You can read the article and Colin’s quotes here.

400th Anniversary of the King James Bible and Hatfield House

The year 2011 marks 400 years since the Bible was translated into the English language in the Authorized Version, aka the King James Bible. After a labor of more than seven years by 47 or more scholars, this third version in English was printed and has, ever since, been one of the most influential books in the English speaking world.

So, friends, eat drink and be merry, for in the fullness of time, you may have to become my brother’s keeper, for he fell flat on his face, though he is clearly the salt of the earth and only occasionally acts holier than thou. He is as old as the hills, but has had his fall from grace due to his feet of clay and his taste for forbidden fruit. In the twinkling of an eye, the powers that be could reach the root of the matter. As we sometimes say, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So will you cast the first stone? Be a fly in the ointment? Or will you gird your loins, put your house in order and find your heart’s desire? Remember, we reap what we sow.

Okay, so that paragraph is a bit lame, but it illustrates how many familiar phrases — cliches really — come from the KJV.

Numerous celebrations, conferences, services, choral events and exhibitions have been going on all year. For upcoming events and more information, click here for the King James Bible Trust website with further information. Of special interest is the website’s video on life in 1611.

King James

Images courtesy of King James Bible Online; for more, click here.

Many of the stories about the anniversary mention the coincidence of this Bible being written at roughly the same time Shakespeare’s works were performed and published. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the English language’s most famous poet and playwright, must have known and seen the new bible. I wish I could find out what his reaction was, but so far I haven’t found any comments from Will.

The Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare, National Portrait Gallery

The period of the English Renaissance which brought us both the King James Bible and Shakespeare was part of great changes in all aspects of life. But even today, we recognize the timelessness of these great works. And celebrate them!

Another 400th anniversary marked in 2011 is for Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, home of the Marquess of Salisbury. Here is their website. And for my blog post on a Hatfield visit in 2010, see 8/13/10. I visited again last June (2011) and took a few more pictures.

Above is a shot I took from the staff and business entrance to the House, which is a big working enterprise. I was there to do some research in the Archive.

From near the same spot, one can gaze across the gardens to the Old Palace, where Elizabeth I lived as a child and young woman. Just to the left of the Palace roof is the tower of the parish church, St. Etheldreda’s.
Below, the church in 2009. Here is their website.

Below, one of the handsome lamps that grace the park.

And finally, some of Lady Salisbury’s beautiful old roses.

2011 is a good year in many ways — and so apparently was 1611.

Moats, Five of 6,000

Victoria here. The Summer 2011 issue of the National Trust Magazine has a page of facts and figures with several fun items:

43 is the number of pubs owned by the NT; 200 bicycles are available to hire in Cumber Park Nottinghamshire; and 6,000 is the number of MOATS in the UK, “making them one of our nation’s most common medieval monuments.”

Bodiam Castle

I went to my picture collection to see how many moats I could account for. A recent one, though now a dry garden, was at Walmer Castle in Kent, which you can read about on this blog of 7/24/11.

Perhaps my favorite is the moat at Scotney Castle, also in Kent. The website is here.

Be sure to click on the photo gallery for lovely pictures, though none quite so atmospheric as the ones I took on a visit in late October mist. The gardens have been planted for special beauty in the spring and autumn.

In the 19^th century, the gardens were designed in the picturesque manner by William Sawrey Gilpin for the Hussey family; Gilpin’s uncle, the Rev. William Gilpin, had criticized the style of his contemporary Capability Brown as too smooth and tame.

The old castle, dating from the 14^th century, was “selectively ruined” to provide a focal point for the garden, leaving only one round tower of the original four.

In 1970, the garden was left to the National Trust. The moat acts as a perfect mirror in the above romantic view.

In one of my several visits to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, it was January and the moat was frozen.

After a snowstorm, the site was deserted, silent and ghostly in the fog, shared only with the sheep who were bundled up against the wind in their finest fleece. My husband and I made our lonely way around the ruins, reading all the labels and trying to imagine how it would have looked when it was the lively center of a great community.

Another visit was in October, in bright sunshine. There were many more visitors, although I managed to take my snaps in between them!

Bodiam Castle was constructed in the late 14th century and though ruined during the Civil War when attacked by Parliamentary forces who eventually removed its roofs, it is relatively intact. George Curzon, 1^st Marquess Curzon (1859-1925), purchased Bodiam in 1916 and managed a number of preservation and restoration projects there before presenting it to the National Trust in 1925, which has continued to protect the popular site.

The sheep were happier, it seemed, but you will note they had a good October start on
their winter coats.

Bodiam was used as the Exterior of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey
in the 1986 BBC version, even though it was never an abbey nor does it resemble the Northanger Austen describes. Bodiam has also appeared in episodes of Dr. Who and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, among many other films and tv programs.

Both Bodiam and Scotney are NT sites easily accessible from London. Two other popular tourist sites with lovely moats are Leeds Castle and Hever Castle, also not far from the City.