Wednesday 15 September 2010

Brodsworth Hall

Yesterday we decided to get out our English Heritage card again and go and visit Brodsworth Hall. It is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian Country House in England, and remains virtually unchanged since the 1860s.

It has wonderful Victorian gardens and have recently added a great park which includes both horses and boats, the original owners passions.









There are over 30 rooms, ranging from grand reception rooms with their original furnishings, right through to the servants' quarters. I wasn't able to make many pictures though as cameras weren't allowed in some of the rooms.
The last actual resident of the house was Sylvia Grant-Dalton (wife of a descendant of Charles Sabine Augustus Thellusson), who fought a losing battle against subsidence and leaking roofs for 57 years. Costs began to mount. Following her death in 1988, English Heritage made the bold but highly successful decision to conserve the interiors 'as found' rather than replacing or restoring them, recounting the tale of how a once opulent Victorian house grew comfortably old and inviting to all. They took the decision to conserve rather than restore the house. It was kind of creepy that things were as the old lady had left them when she died, but fascinating all the same. I mean there was things like a Victorian writing desk with a 1970's phone on it.

This room was a favourite of the kids, full of animals and sports equipment.

There was absolutely NO touching! But there were some exhibits that were child friendly :o)
Toilet.
computer, obviously a recent addition :o)
I wish that I could have taken more pictures of the house as it really was spectacular, shabby but oh so magnificent.

This was from the vast servant's quarters

One of my favourite rooms in the servants quarters :o)
This is the bakery. There was also a more modern kitchen as well as an ENORMOUS kitchen with all it's equipment that had been closed off when the last family members lived there. The house was so so so huge that you can understand why they just closed the doors.
Outside in the gardens we found some fungi
this was called something like a shabby ink ? Maybe I have got that wrong, but look at all of the black on the grass.
puff balls
The kids were all so excited when they spotted some grapes hanging overhead.


Being a witch

ivy waterfall

There were still tadpoles in the water!



Being a statue

We also found a pets graveyard.
Obviously a more recent pet. Most of the stones just had the pet name ingraved on them, but this one had the date too.
Can you see the symmetry? It was very popular with the Victorians and they even had it in their houses with all their fake doors, just to keep everything even.

Kiki named this dog Milly.


The most fabulous tree!

just look at it's rose-like pinecones.
and it's wide low hanging branches were perfect for climbing.
I wish that I had gotten one of the kids to stand at the bottom of this picture to highlight exactly how high Champ had climbed.
Eventually, I had to drag the kids away from the tree to go home as we were hitting rush-hour traffic time.

8 comments:

dorinalouise said...

my kids would love to climb those trees!!! i can't get over the house . . i can't imagine living with so many rooms!!! (we have a two bedroom apartment!) . . just . . wow! you're inspiring me to try and get to the vanderbilt mansion and hyde park, fdr's home . . and sagamore hill, teddy roosevelt's home. i'll certainly post if we make it. :)

dorinalouise said...

my kids would love to climb those trees!!! i can't get over the house . . i can't imagine living with so many rooms!!! (we have a two bedroom apartment!) . . just . . wow! you're inspiring me to try and get to the vanderbilt mansion and hyde park, fdr's home . . and sagamore hill, teddy roosevelt's home. i'll certainly post if we make it. :)

Moogie said...

I agree Dorina, I just wish that I could have taken more photos :o(
I would have hated to live in a house like that, it is just waaaay too big and the upkeep...well I guess that was why the family couldn't afford to maintain it.
I think you should explore your local history, we are loving it in our house and I never thought that we would :o) So yes please, do post WHEN :o) you go as we would love to see them!

Izzy said...

Wow. Absolutely, THAT is the most fabulous tree i've ever seen!! Sigh i feel like climbing trees right now.

~*~ saskia ~*~ said...

Hi Moogie, just found your lovely place. It's pure happiness! Your sweetpeas are adorable. You enJOY homeschooling each and every day!
Wish it would be possible in the Netherlands too, I'm a mother of four too, my little ones go to a Waldorf school in Rotterdam.
Wishing you a happy day! xx

Moogie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Moogie said...

I agree Izzy but I was wearing a skirt that day so no climbing for me :o(

Thanks Saskia! I am half dutch and have been to Holland quite a few times :o)
Homeschooling is fun but we only started it because we weren't near any waldorf schools.
x

Kelly said...

What a magnificent house. And very appealing that it is been kept as it was and not redecorated for display. Really love the fungi and the tree too. So much incredible history in England.