30th September – 3rd October 2025
Looks a bit grim, doesn’t it? Well, nothing could be further from the truth for we have just spent three days “pavilioned in splendour” in this magnificent Gothic-Revival castle overlooking its lake and arboretum in beautiful Herefordshire.
Eastnor was built in the early 19th century for the Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers. He required somewhere suitable to live in appropriate to his high station in life. He chose Robert Smirke, later to design the British Museum, whose interiors were later embellished by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. Those splendid interiors are as elaborate as Pugin’s name and were our home for three days.
Here is the Gothic Drawing room before whose comforting log fire we took our pre and post dinner drinks each evening. How unbeatable is a log fire, a squashy sofa, a gin and tonic and good company! Dinner was taken in the Gothic dining room around the gleaming, silver-laden dinner table supervised by the ancestral portraits hanging on the dark blue walls.
The house is still the Hervey-Bathurst family home. James, the present head of the family is descended from Lord Somers. He was very much present, a genial host to our small group. His and his wife’s efforts have ensured that this masterpiece of 19th architecture is as magnificent as it is comfortable.
Having risen from my huge, four poster bed (it was as big as my bedroom at home), we sallied forth after breakfast to visit neighbouring houses. Madresfield Court, the erstwhile seat of the Lords Beauchamp, sits amid verdant pastures surrounded by its moat (Empty when visited, and inhabited by a family of clams) in the lee of the Malvern Hills. Brick-built, mostly 19th century, with many turrets, bay windows, and quaint irregularity, it is the home of the Chevenix-Trench family who are the 28th generation to live in the house, it never having been sold. Fascinating interiors owing much to the Arts and Crafts Movement, particularly the chapel given to the last Lord Beauchamp by his wife (née Grosvenor) as a wedding present. The Great Hall particularly memorable for its plethora of family portraits and twisted glass banisters on the staircase.
Next on the list was Hellens. Hellens is simply unique. It defies architectural definition with its ancient foundation, creaking staircases and idiosyncratic interiors. To say that it is furnished is an understatement as every wall, every nook, every cranny has something to recall its ancient past. Its history spans from the 11th century to the time of Axel Munthe and his son, Malcolm Munthe, who set up the current Trust which now runs the house. At the bottom of the drive is the church of St Bartholemew, complete with many monuments, marble and otherwise. Sir Walter de Helyon dates from 1360 and is made of oak.
Apart from Houses, being in the area, we took the opportunity to visit the Museum of Royal Worcester. Once one of Britain’s finest porcelain manufacturers, dating back to 1751, all that now remains is the Museum. Porcelain-making is a fascinating subject melding art and science. Here at the museum we had a riveting talk where we were shown how an enormous dinner service, in the last days of the factory, was created for an Arab Sheik. Aside from that staggering enterprise were the cabinets full of pieces ranging from the early tentative pieces to the exhibition pieces made for the great exhibitions of the 19th century in Paris, London and Chicago. Unforgettable is the “jewelled” service made for Lady Dudley.
Worcester Cathedral, apart from the tomb of King John and the beautiful chantry of Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII, holds a Library. What a marvel this is, hidden away up a spiral staircase of 45 steps. Up we clambered, to where the Librarian had laid out a selection of books, some 1000 years old. To look at missals dating back to the Dark Ages written in the tiniest of handwriting is a moving experience. Not a blemish, not a crossing out, and certainly no “spell-check”. The “modern” atlas of 1696 was given to the Dauphin of France detailed in its engraved maps all the greatest and some of the least important towns in England as well as tantalising gaps. Terra Incognita.
Eastnor is the third of the holidays I have organised where you stay in one of England’s great houses.
Our country houses are one of our greatest national treasures. That they have survived in such quantities (despite many losses) is a great tribute to the enterprise and determination of their private owners, and conservation bodies.
To stay in one is an experience, not to be compared with a visit with what Vita Sackville-West used to called ‘The Shillingses’.
If you would like information on future stays of this nature, please contact me:
Nicholas Merchant
merchantn@btconnect.com
044 (0) 1423340017
I look forward to your call.
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