Views of Britain & Ireland
No 13 The Stately Homes
of England
From Saffy
'The stately homes
of England,
How beautiful they
stand,
To prove the upper
classes
Have still the upper
hand...'
Noel Coward's tone was
gently ironic, but nevertheless the grand country residences of Britain
are one of our national glories. The houses depicted here are in England,
Scotland, and Cornwall, so that the heading to this page should not be
interpreted too literally: I was influenced by Noel Coward's superb song.
These magnificent photographs
were taken by Saffy.
1. Basildon Park, near Henley, Oxfordshire
The elegant entrance hall and grand staircase.
2. The 'Painted Chamber' of Gladstone's Land,
Edinburgh
Gladstone's Land is a cloth merchant's house not far from
Edinburgh Castle. The wall design is a precursor to modern wallpaper: you
simply chose the desired pattern from a pattern book, and the decorators
applied it to the walls and ceilings.
3. Cotehele House, Cornwall
The photograph was taken at Easter, to capture the daffodils
in the foreground. It is a National Trust property, and the family that
owned it, and who were the owners of a number of other properties, used
this one as a 'dumping ground' for all the relatives for whom they did
not much care. Thus they were reluctant to spend any money on inprovements;
a serendipitous result, since the house is little altered from its original
form.
Return to Table of Contents