What We Did Last Saturday

[poliphilo]

This is Sudbury Hall. We stopped here on the way home last Saturday. The house is 17th century and grand and cold and echoey. The servant's wing houses a charming Museum of Childhood- where we sat for fifteen minutes in a mock-up of a late Victorian schoolroom and got to write on slates and practice our seven times table.



The church- just off to the side of the house- is mostly 19th century restoration, but I managed to find this charming (15th century?) angel on the north wall.

Comments

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

She is very charming, looks a little bit sulky too :) I love houses where the servants' quarters are open, it's the most interesting part of the house for me.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Sulky? And why not? I imagine she once had a number of sisters- and now she's the only one left.

The servants quarters are built to a human scale. The main house is all about power and money and display- and I found it rather hateful.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

we went there earlier in the summer. The Beans loved the museum, Eddie especially enjoyed the 'pretend to be a chimney sweep' bit.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We arrived not knowing what to expect. I found the house a turn-off but the Museum is great fun.

I was tempted to "go up the chimney", but was afraid I'd get stuck.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

there were a few other children there who looked a bit nervous, and none brave enough to give it a try.

Until EB turned up.

"Don't worry! I've got a torch!" he said, retrieving his torch from where he'd hidden it in LB's buggy before we left.

I think he led them round half a dozen times.

:-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's splendid.

What a trouper!

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Lovely photo of the house and the angel is charming.

One of the most eccentric stately homes I've ever visited is Erddig near Wrexham. If you haven't already been, you might find it interesting. The family were only very minor aristocracy and though parts were built for show, like the state bedroom that never got slept in by the monarch, it's all very human and there are more pictures of the servants than of the family.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

A lot of these big stately homes are horribly impersonal. They're about power and display and contain nothing that betrays the individual taste of the owners- perhaps because they didn't have any.

Erddig sounds lovely. My personal favourite- out of recent visits- is Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, which was designed to the eccentric specifications of a mid 17th century Duke and Duchess of Newcastle- both of them near-geniuses.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I imagine those old homes, though beautiful, are very chilly! It's wonderful though, and I love the angel.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They must be teribly expensive to heat.

I understand the family still live in parts of Sudbury Hall- away from the grandiose public rooms.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I am sorry you didn't like the house--I think it's really beautiful. I love the cupola, or whatever it is on the top of the house.

The angel is magnificent. How did such an old angel get on such a new house?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a handsome house. I like the look of it from the outside. It's the interior I found cold and impersonal.

The angel is on the north wall of the church, which is medieval, but heavily restored.