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 Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, in the familiar view, wearing its summer hues. Someday, perhaps. I will be able to visit at Christmas. Just in case, I have saved a few shots over the years, and will share them with you for a few moments of holiday dreaming as the season winds down.  The Painted Hall from both ends.    The Library, reflecting the various themes through the years.          And to all, a good night!
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 Though it has been a few years since I visited Holkham Hall, it remains one of my favorite English Country Houses and I have saved pictures from its Christmas festivities over the years. If I could visit during the holidays, I would--just to see what creative things they do with their decorations.  You can join Father Christmas for candlelight tours and other events at their website Holkham <ticketoffice@holkham.co.uk> Or just come with me to view a selection of photos from this and previous years. Enjoy!     I don't know about you, but I have all I can do to wrestle one tree! So this is really grand!    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.
 Just to purge my grimies before the holidays REALLY arrive, I decided to write about a place I did not admire -- and why. Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is one of Britain's most-visited country houses, and you know how I aspire to visit them all. It is extravagantly magnificent and filled with treasures. So why didn't I enjoy my visit to Blenheim?  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the great country houses, at least to me, is the families who lived in them. Blenheim Palace seems to have had more unhappiness than good cheer. I have not yet seen the film The Favourite, but two of the principal characters were concerned with the building of Blenheim: Queen Anne and Sarah Jennings Churchill, the first Duchess of Marlborough, below in a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, dated 1702, National Portrait Gallery, London.  Sarah was a close confidante of Queen Anne, and the wife of John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough. When the Duke was victorious over the French in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, Anne proposed to build the Marlboroughs a great national monument as a Palace for their use in the royal manor of Woodstock in Oxfordshire. Thus began the long and often sad saga of the house ad family. Below, John Churchill, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, NPG.  While her husband was away leading British armies Sarah quarreled with everyone, the Queen and the architect John Van Brugh; Sarah wanted a livable home while the others wanted a Palace of Versailles for England. Angry, the Queen reneged on her payments, beginning several centuries of struggle for the Churchill family, later known as the Spencer-Churchills, to support the estate financially. Below, Queen Anne, after John Clostermann, 1702.  The Spencer-Churchills were not a particularly wealthy family and the requirements of court life and maintenance of Blenheim were a severe burden. Charles, the 9th duke (1871-1934) turned to an American alliance to rescue Blenheim from its debts. His marriage to Consuelo Vanderbilt was notoriously unhappy and ended in divorce after she provided bundles of money plus an heir and a spare. The portrait below was painted by John Singer Sargent in 1905.  The 9th duke's cousin was Winston Churchill (1874-1965), grandson of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and also the son of an American heiress, Jennie Jerome, wife of Randolph Churchill. Below, Sir Winston photographed in 1941 by Yousuf Karsh of Ottawa. If Winston had been responsible for the care of Blenheim, how could he have saved the world in WWII?  So far I have not provided many reasons for disliking Blenheim, beyond the travails of its owners. Which, I believe, counts for a lot. I also found its appearance unwelcoming, harsh, and unfriendly both outside and in. Upon approaching the front entrance, it seems to be frowning at the visitor.  The corner turrets atop the towers are militaristic, supposed to be like bursting battle explosions. Though the front pediment is of Roman sternness, it seems Van Brugh and his associate Hawksmoor, could not stop adding baroque embellishments elsewhere. Or perhaps they had a fire sale at the stone curlicue dealer.   Above, the Green Writing-Room with the Battle of Blenheim tapestry. The rooms are small, almost claustrophobic with their huge and overwhelming tapestries and little natural light. Rarely did a room look like you could relax with a cuppa and a good book without fearing that some army battalion would come marching upon you. Obviously these State Rooms are not where the family could hideaway but one can easily see why Sarah wanted a less magisterial home.  The Long Library was altered from its original purpose as a picture gallery and though it is now furnished as a relatively comfortable sitting room, it still seems prickly to me. The family tree, displayed in the foreground of the picture. traces the family back to the 8th century Charlemagne, not (as usually in country houses) merely to 1066.  Though I do not like the house or the interiors, the pleasure park and gardens are brilliant. One of the triumphs of Lancelot "Capability" Brown, the grounds contain a lake, the brilliant bridge by Van Brugh, the Grand Cascade, the Victory Column, and much much more. Below, the Bridge.  I hope you have the opportunity to visit Blenheim, preferably during a season when the lawns are fully green. In the summer I first visited, here is how the grass looked. Maybe you will love it and I welcome the comments of anyone who wants to challenge my opinion of the place!   Though we often forget such ancient history in regard to Country Houses in Britain, the first ones we know of were actually from the period of Roman control beginning with the conquest in 43AD. The first Roman villa I visited was Chedworth, above, a National Trust property since the 1920's.  The Romans built in stone so like the wisest of The Three Pigs, their structures lasted for centuries, however knocked down, covered over or otherwise demolished they were. And they embellished their buildings with mosaics like these.   Above is an artist's rendition of the Chedworth villa in the fourth century from the Wikipedia site. In addition to a luxurious dwelling, it contained farm buildings, and their associated activities. Located in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire, they probably raised sheep, a cash industry in Britain since time immemorial. Below, mosaics from the Bignor Roman Villa in West Sussex, another well developed site for studying the Romano-British culture which stretched over four centuries, a very long time. Medusa, above, and a Dolphin, below.  The Bignor Roman villa has impressive mosaics and some reconstructions of what Roman houses may have looked like nearly two thousand years ago.  The Fishbourne Roman Palace, also in West Sussex, is the largest Roman residence yet discovered in Britain, as well as being among the earliest; it dates from about 75 AD.  It has been extensively examined, and shows all the attributes the Romans developed to create central heating, running water and other conveniences forgotten for centuries thereafter. Many other Roman sites can be visited throughout Britain. In addition to the villas, many Roman artifacts--statues, tools, jewelry and others--are in museums across the country.  There are Roman remains from the Channel coast north to Hadrian's Wall and its associated forts, erected across Britain east-west to protect from invasion by the fierce Scots.  I just can't leave this topic without a mention of a few of my other favorite Roman remnants in Britain. For example, below, fragments of the Roman Wall in London.  Photo above: By John Winfield, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3186845 Below, the Roman-style columns of the British Museum, a treasure trove of Roman artifacts -- among a few other cultures!!  Below, a Mithraic altar, coins, and a wonderful book, all from the British Museum. Click on the photos for larger versions. Last year, I visited the remains of the Roman Amphitheater discovered during the rebuilding of the Guildhall Art Museum in the City of London.  And perhaps the most famous of the Roman remains, the bathing facilities in Bath.  Bath's Aqua Sulis was a tourist center many centuries ago, as it is today.  Above, Sulis Minerva, the goddess who united the Celtic goddess Sulis with the Roman deity Minerva, representing the healing powers of the hot springs.  I am here to endorse those healing powers -- I definitely felt better after trying out the Thermae Bath pools in modern-day Bath, A true delight! Those Romans were very clever to take the local springs and use them so wisely!  |
Victoria Hinshaw, Author
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