Places to Visit- particular delights!

[essexbearhunter]

Many buildings have bits that you would like to capture & take home (like the simple stone doorcase & fanlight leading out into the garden at Hidcote, in my case). However, most visits seem to follow the same pattern and you end up having viewed, from a distance, some very good furnishings and leaving with the house guidebook, some external photos and a feeling that it was "rather nice" or "incredibly grand"....but no real extra connection as you went back past the Lodge and took the road home.

Holkham Hall broke the mould. Externally,the place was very big and grand but not especially attractive (the yellow brick looks slightly drab and uniform compared to the richer texture of stone) but inside all changed...even before entering the Marble Hall...with the words "...and please feel free to take any photographs that you want". Holkham has a different way of doing Stately Homes and -apart from the architecture - my abiding memory will be the gentle notes of grand piano being played by another visitor as we lingered before leaving the Hall for the kitchens. Pure magic!

Apethorpe Hall (English Heritage) is still running tours on Wednesdays & Saturdays (pre-book only) until 5th September. Totally unfurnished but really brought alive by the local guides. Again , you can take all the pics that you want and you even go up on the roof. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.20414 .

Finally, don't forget Open House - the London event is on 19th & 20th September . Free access to a large range of architectural delights for all or part of the 2 days. You can get complete information on the website http://www.londonopenhouse.org/public/london/event.html . A few need pre-booking - I've got myself booked in to see Grovelands House (John Nash 1797,Grade 1) which is usually out of bounds to all but patients of The Priory. Extra info on several of the larger houses can be found in London's Country Houses by Caroline Knight (which I got because it covered The Round House in Havering -one of my 2007 prize visits). Very readable and informative.

 

[Flyfisher]

I entirely agree about the typical visiting experience; Oxburgh Hall, fairly local to me, is always disappointing in this respect whenever we take friends to visit, although my most recent American friend to visit was, of course, still amazed to wander around a building many times older than his country!

I've been to Holkham many times for game fairs but have never actually visited the Hall itself. I agree about the rather 'stern' look to the place and this has probably put me off going inside but your post has encouraged me to make more of an effort next time; it sounds much more appealing than most.

As for Grovelands House, my parents lived in Winchmore Hill for some years and Grovelands was my local park. Grovelands House was adjacent to the park and I remember that the dividing fences were not particularly proof against young boys and it was great fun out-running the park keeper if he spotted us sneaking in or out. Enjoy your visit.

 

[robgil]

i found a visit to the Weald open air museum to be a very good day out , highly recommended if you like old Tudor type buildings.

http://www.wealddown.co.uk/

 

[Penners]

I think my favourite National Trust property in the whole country is Coleton Fishacre, near Dartmouth, in Devon.

It's a wonderful Lutyens-style house (not actually designed by Lutyens, but one of his pupils), with gorgeous gardens. There are dappled woodlands and a rill/stream that meandres down a combe to the sea. Lots of wonderful and unusual plants.

It was built for Sir Rupert and Lady D'Oyly Carte in the 1920's. There was, however, a family tragedy when their son was killed in a car accident, and their marriage didn't survive the event.

 

[essexbearhunter]

The Weald is certainly a good day out - but it had the misfortune to be visited after I had already been to "Den Gammle By" near Århus in Denmark and "The Openlucht Museum" in Arnhem.

This must be all of twenty years ago (and things do move on) but there was so much more at Arnhem ...and I have a strong affection for Dutch architecture - they just seem to make even very small houses almost classically elegant.

http://www.dengamleby.dk/english.htm

http://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/en/

 

[JoceAndChris]

I read this with envy at your curiosity and energy. Somehow I can't motivate myself to go to many National Trust properties, etc, and when I do go I very quickly feel saturated, disconnected, jealous, and trudged out.

I prefer to get to know ONE place really well, and build a relationship with it. In London it was Kenwood House; every bit became personal and flooded with meaning. Plus I could walk there, avoiding roads.

Here, I dunno, I thought it would be Belvoir Castle, but I'm a bit cross with the fifth duke's wife for knocking down what was there and rebuilding it in the 19th C. Not very PPUK.

 

[Moo]

I'm with you about getting to know one place really well, Joce.
For me there are two: Dartington Hall, where we spent every summer holiday for nearly fifteen years (the children weren't exactly conceived there, but were there in utero and then throughout their infancy and childhood). Turning into the estate from the public road it was as though a magic glass shutter had gently closed behind us as we began the annual ritual of reacquaintance with the buildings and the wonderful gardens.
And Brodsworth Hall, when occupied by the indomitable Sylvia Grant-Dalton. Decaying in the most romantic way and very unromantically chilly in the winter months. When visiting we either huddled round paraffin heaters in the grand motheaten drawing room, or enjoyed the roaring fire in the library where half a tree-trunk burned on a deep bed of ashes. And the downstairs loo was a real treat - the wooden throne at the end of what was really a long corridor, and its ingenious flushing mechanism rather terrified the children. I've not been there since EH took it over, but I gather that they've tried to preserve it just as it was. One day I'll go back and check that claim in great detail.

 

[philpjuk100]

Castle Acre,norfolk,a mystical place,the village the earthworks and the abbey,Tearoom and pub (Ostrich)with its amazing chimney,the archway through which you drive,have not been yet this year but will,also kelmscott,lydington bede house,gainsborough old hall,lindisfarn castle(so many places so little time!)phil.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I'm with you about getting to know one place really well, Joce.
For me there are two: Dartington Hall, where we spent every summer holiday for nearly fifteen years (the children weren't exactly conceived there, but were there in utero and then throughout their infancy and childhood). Turning into the estate from the public road it was as though a magic glass shutter had gently closed behind us as we began the annual ritual of reacquaintance with the buildings and the wonderful gardens.

Mmm, good memories Moo! Brilliant.

I find the places I only visit once don't stick in my mind at all.

 

[essexbearhunter]

I thought it would be Belvoir Castle, but I'm a bit cross with the fifth duke's wife for knocking down what was there and rebuilding it in the 19th C.

I had similar feelings about Scotney Castle where the Hussey family brought in Salvin to build a new country house just up the hill (so far, so good) and Hussey & Gilpin then selectively reduced the original castle to a picturesque ruin (bad move).

The new house fails to excite...the old castle is where the architectural quality lies and the pictures get taken.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mai...arden/w-scotneycastlegarden-photo_gallery.htm