June 2015 – My Days Out Blog

Stonor, Oxfordshire

Privately Owned.
Stonor is a long red-brick house facing a fine grassy park. It has been in the hands of the Stonor family for the last 850 years. The house was developed in stages from c.1280 to 1760. The long entrance (South) front was faced with brick in the 17th century, though the roofline and windows were altered later. The New Hall was subdivided in the 19th century.
The uniform-looking brick exterior conceals an irregular internal construction, with the older parts being timber-framed. The land rises behind the house to such a degree that the first-floor rear windows are at garden level. Attached at the East end is a 13th century Catholic chapel.
Internally, the house seems a maze of interconnecting spaces. It was emptied of contents during a financial crisis in the 1970s, but the family have recovered some of the original contents and filled the house with fine objects. The more noteworthy rooms are the Drawing Room, the Dining Room, and upstairs Francis Stonor’s room with its unique shell-shaped bed, the Library and the Long Gallery.
The Stone Corridor on the north side is below garden level and has one window looking out onto a small court and the windows of the 1350 New Hall.
After touring the house I found it quite hard, in the absence of a modern floor plan, to remember which room was where. A partial plan is here: 1994 Survey

A marked up plan is displayed in the Stone Corridor. The visitor route on this plan is: tea room (E), hall (B), drawing room (P) and eastwards along front to: Narrow Corridor, Blue Dining Room (C) in frontage, Study (F) behind tea room, upstairs to Francis Stonor’s Bedroom (above F, in front of tea court upper part), the Library (above C, running full width), Lady Camoy’s Bedroom (above drawing room P), Edmund Campion Room (2nd floor, above porch S), Landing (part of central stairwell) Long Gallery (above Stone Corridor U), down central staircase (T), along Stone Corridor at back (U), passing an internal court and returning to tea-court and shop.

The Gothic Revival Hall is formed out of part of the 1350 New Hall, along with the Drawing Room and a bedroom above. The tea-room (Aisled Hall) is in part of what was the Old Hall.

Outside, do not neglect to visit the Chapel, and the extensive sloping walled flower gardens behind the house.

Overall, Stonor surpasses in interest the nearby National Trust houses of Grays Court and Nuffield Place.

Powderham Castle, Devon

Privately owned estate
The powerful Courtenay family started building the castle in 1391. It had a hall and six towers, only one of which remains today. Another branch of the Courtenay family laid siege to the castle for seven weeks in 1455, without success.
During the English Civil War, Powderham Castle was initially held for the Royalists, attacked in 1645, and finally taken by the parliamentarians in 1646. The badly damaged castle was not lived in by the family again till 1702.
Sir William Courtenay inherited in 1702 and set about repairing and modernising the castle. He divided the long Great Hall horizontally and vertically. His heirs added the fine plasterwork of the staircase, moved the chapel, built the Belvedere Tower, and added the Music Room, containing the biggest Axminster carpet ever made at the time.
In 1835, William Courtenay inherited and engaged the architect Charles Fowler, who added the State Dining Room, and at the same time changed the main entrance from the eastern side to the western, creating the viaduct and courtyard with the medieval style gatehouse. An older chapel was demolished and the medieval Grange converted into a chapel.
Minor internal alterations and a new entrance on the North side have been made in the 20th century.
Access to the lavish interior is by hourly guided tours. Various rooms on the ground and first floors are shown, the highlights being the staircase and the Music Room. There are a number of amusing hidden doorways.
Immediately outside are the Chapel and the raised Rose Garden. In the estate are various family-themed attractions. Garden fans will find the Woodland Garden and folly well worth seeing, but be warned that this is about a mile (20 mins walk each way) from the castle. I didn’t make it as far as the Belvedere (40 mins each way).
To see the main attractions takes about 3 hours. Families could make a day of it. Powderham is one of the more energetically marketed private estates, and as you drive out you will find that it even has its own shopping centre with food hall and gardening store.

Port Eliot, Cornwall

Privately owned
A grand house and grounds near the Saltash estuary. Parts of Port Eliot are extremely old – there are fragments dating from the 4th, 9th, 10th and 13th centuries, but most of the house dates from a makeover by Sir John Soane in the 18th Century. It was previously known as Port Priory. The estuary water used to be closer, but was diverted by a dam in the 18th century.
A notable feature of the contents is a series of family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds. They belong to the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, having been accepted in lieu of death duties, but remain in the house on condition that they are available for viewing on 100 days per year. There are a number of fine rooms with contents including valuable furniture – the Morning Room, Drawing Room (library), Big Dining Room and the Round Room. I don’t recall seeing the Conservatory annex.
The Round Room was designed by Sir John Soane and is considered one of his outstanding achievements. It is painted with a 20th century mural by eccentric artist Robert Lenckiewicz, which is regarded as his masterpiece. It depicts dozens of people known to the Eliot family and is an outstanding work. In the same room is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, restored and presented like an art exhibit.
A look on Google Satellite makes the house plan, with its two almost separate blocks, clearer.
I found that all the house guides (stewards) were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The house is still a family home, and visitors may see family possessions lying around – and the family dog. There are extensive grounds, which I did not have time to fully explore.
Visiting – the house is about 200 yards north of St Germans village on the B3249. Approaching from this direction you will come on an entrance with gateway and lodges forking to the right, at a small car park. The pedestrian entrance is here. You could park here and walk down past the church, as the house (behind the church) is much closer than it looks. I’m still not sure what they expect car-borne visitors to do – apparently there is another entrance and car park 1Km further on, to the west, which you’d come on first if approaching from the A38. I visited on a day of low visitor numbers (they do have an annual literature festival), and not finding anyone to ask, I drove through the gate and parked in front of the house. There was plenty space and nobody objected.
Important Notice: The owner of Port Eliot is in negotiations to sell the house to a trust run by Prince Charles. The implications for visitor access are unclear, but the interior will no longer look like a family home. As with privately owned mansions in general, the message is: Visit It While You Still Can.
For interior photos see Port Eliot website.

Downes House, Devon

Private
Moses Gould built the original house in 1692 in red brick. In 1794 James Buller faced the house with pale beer stone and the windows were lowered. In 1840 James Wentworth Buller demolished the back part of the house, which included a brewhouse and built the present red brick back section to contain staff quarters and extra bedrooms for his family of 10 surviving children. (This block can be seen from the car-park next to the house). The wings were also modified in the 19th Century.
In 1910 Tremayne Butler modernised the house. He extended the area which now forms the main entrance, and removed the wall between the old entrance hall and library to form what is now called the Long Hall.
In 1980 service rooms at the back of the house were demolished. They were of no architectural interest and in a dilapidated condition.
The present layout of the house is best seen on the Google Satellite view.
Interior: The tour starts at the Front Hall (present entrance hall) which contains portraits etc. Beside it is the Museum, with mementos of Sir Redvers Buller. Further on is the Panelled Room, with shields. The paneling above the fireplace is older than the house.
The Main Staircase is one of the major features of the house, with a 19th century window containing medieval church stained glass, and a fine ceiling of plaster over copper supports. At the top of the staircase a Bedroom is on show with a four poster bed, which came originally from a Portugese palace on the west coast of India.
The Long Hall now contains many portraits of the Buller Family. Beyond it, the Dining Room occupies the East wing. It contains spears and shields from the Zulu and Ashanti wars.
Most famous occupant: General Sir Redvers Buller, VC, GCB, GCMB, 1839-1908. A local hotel (now a Weatherspoons) is named after him.
Downes House is worth a visit to see the main staircase, dining room and other contents.
The house is still used as a home by the London-based owners at weekends.
Note that the only admission is at 2.15 PM, by guided tour. We were not encouraged to walk around the grounds, but the aerial view indicates that there is not a lot to see.
Pictures at Downes Estate

Charlestown, Cornwall

The harbour at Charlestown, on the outskirts of St Austell, was built in the 1790’s for the export of copper ore, but was later used for the export of china clay. Remains of the chutes and tunnel used for loading china clay can still be seen. The harbour, now Grade II listed, is a popular location for films and TV, and is also a port for visiting tall ships.
You can walk around the harbour and look at the old buildings free of charge.
Street parking is limited, and you will probably have to use one of the pay car parks. Fortunately the charges are not excessive.

Charlestown Shipwreck and Heritage Centre. I’m adding this here as it’s at the top of the harbour. Contains displays about various local wrecks, with photographs, and artifacts salvaged from wrecks. There are one or two videos, and displays about the Mary Rose, Titanic and Lusitania, which will be of interest if you haven’t seen similar elsewhere. It takes a couple of hours to go round and look at everything.