Wellington and Stratfield Saye
Stratfield Saye (picture 1) was the country home of the first Duke of Wellington, a house which tells us a great deal about the man, his life and his era. Born Arthur Wesley in 1769 (the same year as Napoleon), third son of a minor Irish peer, he attended Eton and entered the army in 1787. In 1794, he courted Kitty Pakenham, whose Dublin family thought him without prospects sufficient for their daughter. He went off to India a year or two later, distinguished himself on the battlefield there and in government posts.
Twelve years after his first proposal to Kitty, twelve years in which they were forbidden to communicate, Sir Arthur Wellesley (as he was then known) returned and wed her in 1806 in Dublin. Neither found happiness in the marriage; each had changed too much. They spent little time together, though two sons were born.
As commander of British troops, he received great praise in the Peninsular War, was made a duke, and won lasting status as an international hero by defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. Kitty never adjusted to life in the spotlight of fame and honor as the first Duchess of Wellington. She found the nearest thing to satisfaction in raising her sons, and several other children from broken marriages in the Wellesley family, mostly at Stratfield Saye.
The estate is quite the opposite of the original vision of the Prince Regent and Parliament when they rewarded the Duke for his victories. Following the example of Queen Anne's gift to the first Duke of Marlborough, they gave 600,000 pounds for the construction of a splendid Waterloo Palace to rival the magnificence of Blenheim Palace, home of the Churchill/Marlborough family. The Hampshire site Wellington chose in 1817 was the 5,000-acre estate of Stratfield Saye, home of the Pitt family, cousins of the great father-and-son Prime Ministers. (picture 2)
But the Iron Duke knew the Marlborough story. In the company of his frequent companion, Mrs. Arbuthnot, Wellington visited Blenheim. I have found no record of his remarks at the time, but his opinion can be divined from his decision to renovate the house that already stood on his property, instead of undertaking demolition and construction of an edifice that might be difficult to live in and a drag on his purse, just as Blenheim Palace always has been for the Marlboroughs.
The house at Stratfield Saye was originally built in 1630 by Sir William Pitt, comptroller of the Household to James I, and underwent extensive remodeling several times, before, during and since the first Duke's tenure. Though the house now has the external appearance of a late-regency country house, the interior is more Victorian in character. The Drawing Room wallpaper was put up in 1838 and has a much gaudier, cluttered feel than the room would have had with plain walls to complement the rococo ceiling, wainscoting, fireplace surrounds and mirrors. (picture 3)
Stratfield Saye is as comfortable as Blenheim and Apsley House (the Duke's London residence) are imposing and formal. The long, low country house of ocher stone was restored by the Seventh Duke of Wellington, Gerald Wellesley, after World War II. Gerald, himself an architect and a student of Regency design and decoration, added a cupola on the roof but otherwise maintained the spirit of the house as it was in the first duke's day. The estate is located in a remarkably unspoiled stretch of countryside, just eleven miles southeast of Reading.
In the stable block, visitors enjoy an exhibition of memorabilia, including clothing, weapons, the decorations the first duke received from almost every nation in Europe, neo-Elizabethan costumes from the coronation of George IV, and Wellington's great state funeral carriage (the Triumphal Car) (picture 4) made of bronze from melted-down French cannons captured at Waterloo. This bizarre and gigantic vehicle is said to have been designed by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, and is certainly an excellent example of the era's most fancifully wretched excess.
The house contains artwork from the duke's collections, although the finest paintings are in Apsley House. (picture 5) Many mementos, including captured French battle flags, hang in the hall above Roman mosaics on floor. In each of the several print rooms, in which pictures are pasted to the walls in harmonious arrangements, Wellington included at least one engraving of himself. The familiar painting of Wellington's grandchildren crawling over him, a work painted by James Thorburn shortly before the Duke died in 1852, hangs in a drawing room.
Some rooms are preserved as Wellington left them, with homey articles such as his spectacles and carpet slippers. In his music room, where he relaxed, the decor emphasizes hunting pictures and portraits of horses, particularly of Copenhagen, the charger who bore Wellington for all eighteen hours of the Waterloo battle. Copenhagen died in 1836 and is buried in an honored grave on the grounds.
Currently the home of the eighth duke and his family, Stratfield Saye is a charming family residence after the tourists have left. The estate fulfills my idea of the perfect English country residence: an idyllic setting and a large but homelike house with vistas of the park from every window. Unlike Blenheim's coldness, Stratfield Says is warm and restful. (picture 6)
Some of the architectural drawings of the proposed grand palace are displayed in the corridors. In one rendering, the central building could very well have been the model for Washington D.C.'s National Gallery of Art -- white marble, many pillars, and a low, central dome. Rather than choosing such a palace, the first duke improved the existing house, installing extensive indoor plumbing, complete with blue and white patterned porcelain fixtures, and central heating (some of the original radiators are visible in the hall). It is said that Queen Victoria found the house too hot, but I haven't come across her comments on the loos.
As a political leader and prime minister, Wellington was widely considered reactionary. The first duke had a poor opinion of the rabble, whether his troops or the city mobs; yet he was known to be generous to all, particularly to his old veterans. When he died in 1852, his state funeral is said to have been watched by a million people as the procession went to St. Paul's, where his tomb can be seen today.
In the 1970's, about 550 acres of the property were donated as a country park, complete with nature trails, playgrounds and other rustic attractions. On display at the house is the duke's North American garden where he grew the many plants he acquired from the former colonies, particularly from the west coast.
Though his friends thought Stratfield Saye much too modest a home for the Iron Duke, he enjoyed the house and its comforts, hunted its fields and forests, just five hours from London (with the best of horses). At Stratfield Saye, one feels the presence of Wellington as a real man, not as an institution.