A trend has been forming recently.
Every day I go to a new place and rave about it. It’s the best thing I've ever seen and I
thought that nothing could beat Castle Howard for its impressive interior and I
was right in a way but I hadn't yet visited Calke Abbey…
 |
| Even though this room is massive the collection has taken over somewhat. |
 |
| The obsessive taxidermy collection in one of the little rooms at Calke Abbey |
 |
| A bedroom as it was left by its former occupants |
The pull of this particular house is
that it is in a state of decline.
The National Trust have been careful to
preserve it in the condition in which they found it; a painstaking process of
expensive and time consuming work to be sure the wallpaper peeled off that part
of the wall just so and the mold in that hallway remained exactly as it had
always been when they acquired the property without getting worse. This particular family were not big on
socializing, updating or showing off. Instead their lineage follows a trail of
eccentric recluses who enjoyed to hoard. Calke’s halls are stuffed with
bits and pieces from various collections. It is sad that death duties ate up half of the
taxidermy collection because it is quite a statement about the house and it's quirky family but there is still enough of the curious stuff crammed into various rooms to give the viewer a real feeling of the place and the obsessive nature of its former owners.
Calke opens very late on a Sunday so we arrived at Baddesley Clinton without much time to spare. This medieval moated house was glorious with its little
half timbered hallways, stained glass windows and makeshift chapel. It's little inner courtyard was a real delight and I loved the way that ivy and wisteria is grown everywhere here. It adds a real charm to these houses and the different topiary is enchanting and will probably pop up in some paintings sooner rather than later.
As the sun began to set we found
ourselves on white horse hill and then later within The White Horse Inn, a half timbered and half thatched in nestled in a little village just past the foot of the hill. A very tiring but incredibly rewarding day.
