Anglesey Abbey
An excellent day out at Anglesey Abbey yesterday, with good company provided by Jean, son Simon and friend Beryl. It's famous for neither being an Abbey, nor being in Wales. The name probably comes from the area originally being an island in the fens, possibly populated by Angles in an area more commonly settled by Celtic Britons. In the thirteenth century they built an monastery, which was dissolved by Henry VIII and the property passed into several families before coming to rest with the final owner in the 1920s, and he bequeathed it to the National Trust.
If you've ever read the Dodie Smith novel, I Capture the Castle, the Abbey is a plausible candidate for Scoatney. The Broughton family who settled at Anglesey in the 1920s were two brothers with an American heiress mother - which sounds quite familiar. I don't think Lord Fairhaven is a direct model for Simon Cotton, but stil… The way that Lord Fairhaven updated Anglesey reminds me strongly of descriptions of Scoatney, especially the comment that he's having to put in proper bathrooms or Mother won't set foot in it.
The house is very much the product of one man's vision. It's also chock-full of art, including a couple of Clouet's and several other sixteenth century paintings. Yum, yum. In fact, I dispute the attribution of one painting to some other minor English court painter, because it looks like a Clouet to me too. There is also a famous collection of clocks, and another of paintings of Windsor Castle. Lord Fairhaven gave a view of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth 2 as a wedding present. During WW2, he gave the national a Spitfire and (I think) a Lancaster. Imagine the wherewithall to do that?!
The gardens are beautiful, and I saw the most amazing tree with bark like metal leaf. Picture to follow when the internet cooperates.
I haven't managed to get to Hemmingford Gray, but as i have never read the Green Knowe books, that's not quite the tragedy it would be for others, perhaps. But I am visiting literary illusions abungo nonetheless.
If you've ever read the Dodie Smith novel, I Capture the Castle, the Abbey is a plausible candidate for Scoatney. The Broughton family who settled at Anglesey in the 1920s were two brothers with an American heiress mother - which sounds quite familiar. I don't think Lord Fairhaven is a direct model for Simon Cotton, but stil… The way that Lord Fairhaven updated Anglesey reminds me strongly of descriptions of Scoatney, especially the comment that he's having to put in proper bathrooms or Mother won't set foot in it.
The house is very much the product of one man's vision. It's also chock-full of art, including a couple of Clouet's and several other sixteenth century paintings. Yum, yum. In fact, I dispute the attribution of one painting to some other minor English court painter, because it looks like a Clouet to me too. There is also a famous collection of clocks, and another of paintings of Windsor Castle. Lord Fairhaven gave a view of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth 2 as a wedding present. During WW2, he gave the national a Spitfire and (I think) a Lancaster. Imagine the wherewithall to do that?!
The gardens are beautiful, and I saw the most amazing tree with bark like metal leaf. Picture to follow when the internet cooperates.
I haven't managed to get to Hemmingford Gray, but as i have never read the Green Knowe books, that's not quite the tragedy it would be for others, perhaps. But I am visiting literary illusions abungo nonetheless.