Category: Stately Homes

As a collector of experiences at English country homes, I longed to see Woburn Abbey, a center of Whig politics in the 18th and 19th centuries, a great house full of treasures with its grand deer park and lovely gardens.  I finally realized this ambition in May of 2009, staying in the village of Woburn and touring the estate, but not the safari park (about which more later).

 As you can tell from this aerial view, the estate is thousands of acres. Click here to visit WOBURN ABBEY.  I wish I could have spent several more days exploring every corner, but alas, the next leg of the trip had its temptations.

Woburn Abbey, seat of the Dukes of Bedford, was the site of a Cisterian Abbey founded in the twelfth century. After he dissolved the Roman Catholic abbeys, Henry VIII gave the property to John Russell, who served as Lord Privy Seal.

The titles of Earl and Duke of Bedford have a complicated history. The titles were bestowed by the reigning monarch then lost through forfeiture or lack of issue at least six times before the 16th century. Edward VI honored John Russell, his close advisor, with the earldom of Bedford in 1551. The Russell family home remained in Cheshire until the time of the 4th Earl who began to build at Woburn in the early 17th century.

 The 5th Earl was awarded a dukedom by William and Mary for his service in the Glorious Revolution. The family remained devoted Whigs throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Above, Lord John Russell (1792-1878), third son of the 6th duke, Prime Minister for two periods during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Repton followed Brown’s general scheme of undulating hills, clumps of trees, irregularly shaped lakes and meandering streams, an idyllic recreation of the natural English countryside, complete with grazing sheep and gamboling lambs.  Repton often added romantic elements, such as grottoes, and themed “rooms” of contrasting garden styles. His taste for the picturesque was fully realized in Woburn’s Chinese Dairy, above.

The house, once much larger than it is today, was designed by architects Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland in the mid-18th century. In 1950, part of the house was demolished due to dry rot and the facades of the remaining wings were restored.

A tour of the interior is one feast for the eyes after another. Queen Victoria’s Bedroom is part of the State Apartments, used for visiting royalty, which included Elizabeth I while the house was still a monastery. Albert and Victoria came in 1841 and the Queen wrote of her enjoyment of the fine collection of pictures.

 One of the most famous in the Woburn Collection is the Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, by George Gower, 1588, which celebrates the great English victory over the Spanish fleet. Many great Russell family portraits by such artists as VanDyke, Reynolds, and Gainsborough, hang throughout the rooms on public view.

The State Dining Room, left, shows a selection of these portraits as well as the delicate Meissen dinner service adorned with birds and dating from about 1800.

Further along the house tour, another dining room contains the collection of more than twenty views of Venice by Canaletto (1697-1768), commissioned by the Fourth Duke on his Grand Tour about 1730. The view to the right is Entrance to the Arsenal.

The Russell family is also renowned for its development of properties in London. 

At Covent Garden, the fourth Earl of Bedford engaged architect Inigo Jones to develop the grounds of the old convent garden. Jones designed a market place, based partly on the Place des Vosges in Paris, the kind of place we would call mixed use today, with shops, entertainment and residences. Jones also designed St. Paul’s Church, above.

 At right is another of the former  Russell/Bedford London holdings, Russell Square in Bloomsbury. In fact the freehold of some of this area is still held by the family. Russell Square was also designed by Humphry Repton and revitalized in the last decade.

 One of my favorite aspects of visiting great country houses is to learn about the families, and the Russell/Bedford clan has a particularly delicious set of duchesses about which to write.  But I must save that for a later post.

In closing, a few views from the Woburn Safari Park which not only entertains thousands of visitors but also particpates in several worldwide plans to preserve endangered wildlife. It was opened in 1970 by the 13th Duke of Bedford.

Now that I am almost on my way to England, I will post about one of my favorite house visits from past trips. Saltram House is near Plymouth in Devon.

Saltram’s first records indicate the Bagg family built a large Tudor house on the site in the 16th century. After the Civil War, the Carteret family acquired the property and did some remodeling before Parliament allowed them to sell a Crown-granted property to George Parker in 1712.

His daughter-in-law, Lady Catherine Parker and her husband John rebuilt sections of the house and filled their addition with decorations in the rococo style. The architect and artisans are unknown though Lady Catherine herself is said to have been the primary designer.  Right, a portrait of Mrs. John Parker by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1770-72.
     
A central staircase with a glass ceiling was created from the traditional Tudor courtyard in the center of the squarish house.
Enclosing the courtyard was a relatively new idea at the time, providing bright light to the center of the house and allowing for a grand staircase. In the photo from the 1995 film of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Fanny Dashwood peers down at Elinor and Edward, and she thoroughly disapproves of the budding romance.

John II, who became Lord Boringdon in 1784, brought in Robert Adam to re-design unfinished rooms, particularly the Saloon, even now virtually unchanged from the master’s touch. Lord Boringdon was a close friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who assisted in the acquisition of Saltram’s fine collection of art, including ten of Reynolds’ works.  Several paintings by Angelica Kauffman also hang at Saltram. She often worked closely with Robert Adam.

Left is a self-portrait of Ms. Kaufmann from Saltram.

Also from this period is the design of the gardens, woods and lawns, which today shield the property from the invasion of modern-day Plymouth. Except for a few spots in which young trees replace some old ones lost in storms, the visitor would never know she strolled in the center of a suburban/
industrial environment. Below, snowdrops in early spring at Saltram.

John Parker III, at age 16, became Lord Boringdon upon the death of his father in 1788; he was named first Earl of Morley in 1815. After some years on the Grand Tour, he followed his forefathers by representing the area in Parliament and as a leader in local affairs. But his costly engineering properties for the surrounding region brought debts requiring the family to let the house from 1861 to 1894.

The third Earl, also a politician and statesman, and his son lived at Saltram until 1951 when the house, its contents and 290 acres of park were given to the nation in lieu of death taxes and taken over by the National Trust.

As I already mentioned, Saltram house played the Role of the Norland estate in the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Emma Thompson, which is superior, in my opinion, to later versions.

The Red Velvet Drawing Room, from which Elinor weepily watches Marianne playing the pianoforte in the Saloon and is comforted by Edward, has several noteworthy features. Many of the gilded chairs retain their original red velvet seats. The guidebook compliments the care of the housekeepers, who kept extra covers in place when the family was not entertaining. An old inventory lists a red and white feather duster as part of the room’s furnishings, and indicates that at least one of the Countesses dusted her precious porcelains herself. A pierced gilded fillet surrounds the fireplace and doors, running horizontally along the chair rail, quite evident in the film. While very elegant, this is a comfortable room that would put its occupants at their ease.

The saloon was used for balls, concerts and receptions, a necessary feature of great country houses. Its Adam-designed formality is as grand as the family rooms are intimate. Walls are covered in pale blue damask, as is the suite of eighteen armchairs and two sofas by Chippendale. Several of Adam’s intricately-detailed drawings for the woodwork, mirrors and fittings hang in the hallway and many others are in Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. Joseph Rose executed the elegant ceiling plasterwork and was paid 434 pounds in 1772. As so often in Adam rooms, the roundels featuring the goddesses Diana and Venus, were painted by Antonio Zucchi and Angelica
Kauffmann. The two elaborate 19th century chandeliers now hanging in the saloon were tied out of view for the film.

The first Countess of Morley wrote of a ball at Saltram in 1810, “We lighted it by putting a quantity of candles over the doors, the places in which they were fixed being concealed by large wreaths and festoons of leaves and flowers beautiful to behold…round the room we had two rows of seats affording comfortable anchorage for about 200 persons.”

Of interest to the modern visitor is the Great Kitchen containing an open range dating from 1810. A collection of more than 600 copper pans and utensils is on display. In 1788, the kitchen staff included a cook, kitchen maid, scullery maid and still-room maid, in addition to other indoor servants: a governess, the housekeeper, two housemaids and the butler’s staff of an underbutler, two footmen and a brewer. In 1811, each bedroom was provided with a copper can of hot water at least twice a day.

The grounds contain several gardens, an orangery (right), follies, stables and a chapel. Parts of the estate are being preserved as wildflower and wildlife habitats. While wandering the lawns admiring the view of the river Plym or the sheep and cattle across the ha-ha, only the faint sounds of the nearby motorway might remind the visitor of the 21st century. But a careful reading of the guide book reveals that the ha-ha was constructed in 1963; until then, the cattle grazed right up to the buildings. And, as always in NT properties, the temptations of the well-stocked gift shop and the delights of the tea room are features I love, though they weren’t available to early 19th century guests.

How could a family keep up a house and estate this large? Such a question plagues the families who have the responsibility of great houses, though probably just a few with a property near this size. Many houses have been presented to the National Trust, but the Trust requires that properties given to them be accompanied by a large endowment for their maintenance and operation.  Public funds are available to houses based on their historical significance, their degree of need, and the necessity of opening to visitors (which in itself involves many expenses for washrooms, parking, guarding, refreshments, repairs, etc. etc.).

Blenheim Palace attracts many visitors in itself, but never enough paying customers just to see the house and gardens. So, like many other stately homes in Britain, the estate is now a business, home to all sorts of  events.

The Blenheim Horse Trials are justly famous, but only one of many sporting events held on the grounds. To amuse the children, the 11th duke began a railway, a maze, the Butterfly House, an adventure playground and the Churchill Exhibition.

The estate is the venue for all sorts of concerts, fairs, sporting events  and can be hired for weddings.

Bike Blenheim is one of many  charity events. Or attend one of the flower festivals, antique or craft shows, art exhbitions, and more.

Sad to say, but apparently true, the historical and cultural treasures of the great country estates with their incredible gardens — all these riches are not enough to attract sufficient numbers of paying customers to meet the bills.  One has only to think of how many stately homes are now part of schools and colleges, hotels,
country clubs, or worst of all, demolished. In the latter category are hundreds of once thriving estates dating from the time when owning land was the key to wealth.

One more opportunity for earning money is to serve as the setting for movies and television programs.  You have seen parts of Blenheim Palace and its grounds in scenes from many films, such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, The Young Victoria, The Oxford Murders, and currently filming, a version of Gulliver’s Travels.

Or go to this website for the story of 1,776 demolished country houses. It’s a sad story.

But aren’t we lucky that so many wonderful estates remain for us to visit. We’ll blog about more soon.