The house dates from the 15th century, and has had numerous owners. Each put their own stamp on some part of the house over the centuries, and of course there was no thought of preserving the old. After all, it was out-of-date and needed replacing.
The last modern owner turned the place into a sort of theme park, with jousting tournaments and other amusements. He lost his shirt, and the house and its contents. As a result, the house had some Elizabethan rooms, some Queen Anne rooms, a 1930s lounge, and so on, and no furnishings.
I last saw the house a couple of years ago, and that's the state it was in: a jumble of rooms from different periods, and perhaps two pieces of furniture that weren't originally in the house. Since then, a great deal has changed.
The BBC provided much of the funding for "restoring" the house. It wasn't restored to the state it was in at any particular period. Instead, the various rooms were restored (or redecorated, really) so that they looked like new rooms of their particular periods, and modern craftsmen were commissioned to construct period furniture for the rooms. The result is very interesting, with each room representing its time period and with very convincing furniture pieces. The BBC made a series of four hour-long programs that covered the "restoration" work.
The house is a museum, but because none of its contents are really old, it doesn't have the restrictions you would find in an ordinary house museum. Visitors are encouraged to sit on the furniture, look through the books on the shelves, handle the various cooking utensils and labor-saving devices in the Edwardian kitchen, and (for the kids) even jump on the Queen Anne bed. Each room has a docent to interpret the room, and they were very knowledgeable and helpful.
We started our tour in the Keiller Parlor, which is set in 1939. Alexander Keiller was heir to the James Keiller & Sons marmalade company (whose products are still sold today and are available in the US). He used his wealth to acquire 950 acres in and around Avebury, including the prehistoric ring of standing stones. He lived in the house and devoted his time to archaeology and restoration of the site, eventually selling the property to the National Trust.
Our guide explained about the contents of the room, including the very deep arm chairs (they are hard to climb out of). She took the second picture, in which I'm pouring make-believe champagne into Tony's glass. Our first experience with the museum's "please handle the displays" policy.
My Nikon D300S has advanced a few steps beyond this folding bellows-style camera from the early 20th century.
The Edwardian kitchen represents a "busy day in 1912," complete with stacks of permanently "dirty" dishes. The cook's a bit under the weather today, said the docent.
Some of the items displayed are new and perishable (the eggs), but most are period items that easily could have been found in this kitchen. The tin box with six compartments holds spices, including Allspice. I had thought that Allspice was something modern, say 1950s. It turns out that it was first named in 1621, so it could have been in this kitchen long before 1912.
Some real period items scattered around. How about some "super-fatted" soap? Gelatine lozenges? Toffee (ha'penny per ounce)? Or a large bottle of British red wine?
There's a rack of eight or so bells to summon servants to various rooms.
We entered the Tudor parlor, set in the late 1500s. The "tapestries" are digitally printed on cloth to resemble tapestries, and are copies of ones in Blenheim Palace.
The master of the house sits in a chair higher than that of his lady, who would be next to him. Tudor hats are provided for us to wear. It's not clear why the table is spread with an elaborate meal, because this wasn't the dining room. Just to show Tudor dishes and utensils, I suppose. Lots of pewter.
Tony looks good in a Tudor hat.
The furniture pieces are modern reproductions of (or at least are inspired by) Tudor pieces. It seems very light in color, but we're used to seeing old oak pieces that have darkened over the centuries. These are oak Tudor pieces as they would have looked when new.
The 1798 dining room was set up as the then owner, a former governor of Jamaica, would have had it. This spring-loaded "exercise chair" was one unusual item in the room. You sit on it and bounce up and down. Fun, but I'm doubtful how much exercise one would get. The wallpaper is hand-painted in China, as the house would have had, but this paper is modern. Three of the BBC producers appear on the wallpaper.
A view into the garden from the dining room. The garden is beautiful, in better weather.
The billiard room was created just after the First World War, from an unused storage room. It's shown with a 3/4 size snooker table.
The room was also a library, and had some newspapers from World War One. The Times reported 6000 casualties in one day's fighting, and printed all the names.
From another paper, an ad for non-German tires.
Another Tudor room, this one a bedchamber.
The ceiling of this room has lots of colorfully-painted plaster figures.
On this hand-painted wallpaper, a Chinese woman appears to be talking on her cell phone.
In the Queen Anne suite, the Retiring Room is set up for working on needlework. Visitors are encouraged to do their own work on the piece on the frame; supplies for doing so are provided.
Some visitors have done quite a bit of work on the piece.
We exited the house and entered the garden. Lots of sculptured hedges and shrubs.
We passed by the sundial that we saw from the window.
Just beyond the garden wall is the church.
Our only time in the garden on this visit was walking through it quickly -- it was very cold.
An excellent outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment