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One of our main reasons we came back to Rye was to visit Smallhythe Place near Tenterden. Mark had checked the bus timetable and printed if off from the Internet. We caught the No.312 bus from the station. The bus was running through A268 Road and went past our hotel. It was a sunny morning and offered a wonderful view of lush countryside between Sussex and Kent.
Having remembered the face of the timber-framed house from the National Trust guidebook, we were able to spot the building from the bus.
Smallhythe Place was once home to the prominent Victorian actress, Ellen Terry, who performed a number of major roles of Shakespeare’s play over the seven decades. After her death, her daughter, Edy, planned to turn her house into a memorial museum, as well as keeping the 16th century farmhouse. She put in years of careful work at Ellen’s house: arranging the Costume Room with Ellen’s famous dresses, hanging the family photos and portraits, laying out personal gifts and relics given by other actors and actresses. Edy and her two women friends managed to open the house to the public in the early 1930s. She found it hard to keep
her mother’s memorabilia, furniture, and house, and thus liaised with the National Trust asking if they could keep the property and contents. In 1939, the Trust agreed to take on Smallhythe Place, subject to Edy retaining a life-interest. The outbreak of the Second World War made them cancel the opening ceremony. Sadly, Edy died in 1947. Nevertheless, National Trust staff has endeavoured to keep up the 16th century farmhouse as Ellen did and maintained Ellen and her colleagues’ costumes and personal belongings in good condition.
The house was due to open at 11 o’clock. There were already quite a few visitors around the entrance of the house.
At the entrance, we showed our life membership cards. The receptionists suggested we should look round the Terry Room on the right hand of the ground floor first, and then the Dining Room and exhibition rooms on the 1st floor.
The Terry Room was amassed with Ellen’s personal and theatrical mementoes, e.g. her theatrical make-up box, compartmented sewing boxes, furniture, used on the stage, the letter from Oscar Wilde, posters, china set, and her accessories.
We then moved to the Dining Room. The room was furnished with her furniture,
e.g. a large open-shelved dresser with its rows of willow-pattern china, dining table & chairs, and displayed with portraits of other actors, e.g. David Garrick, Sarah Siddons, and mementoes, e.g. a chain worn by Fanny Kemble, a monocle of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and Ellen’s souvenirs from various tours of America. In addition, numerous brass and copper utensils were displayed in the vast medieval fireplace. Evidently, this room was originally the kitchen.
The staircase was very steep and I needed to hold the rope when going up and down.
There were quite a few people around the Costume Room. So, I walked to the furthest room on the 1st floor, i.e. The Bedroom. I met up with the room guide in that room. I was reading one of the handout notes which I had picked up at the landing. He said, “You never find anything from the handout notes in regard to the Bedroom. If you have any queries about the furniture and contents of the bedroom, you must speak to me”. Unlike the rest of the rooms, the bedroom was intimate and personal. It is said that Edy left Ellen’s bedroom exactly as it had been on the
day she died. Understandably, there were various types of furniture, e.g. the dining table and dining chair with her tea set and books displayed, and it proved that she used her bedroom as a sitting room in the late stage of her life. All of her favourite possessions were displayed in the bedroom and they include photos of her family and children, and dressing table with the mirror, silver trinket box and combs.
We looked at the Library from the corridor. Two of the Conservators were working with the old book and copies of the scripts concerning the theatres and its players.
We then moved to the Lyceum Room. This room commemorates her time working at the Lyceum Years and acting with Henry Irving between 1878 and 1902. There were a number of costumes used by Ellen, her brother, Fred Terry, Henry Irving, and William Terris known as ‘Breezy Bill’. We were also interested in numerous stage props belonging to Irving and Ellen, e.g. jewelled head-dresses, the little satin ballet shows which she wore when she was performing the role for “Puck” in Midsummer Night’s Dream at the age of 9. Apparently, she broke her toe on the
stage, but her performance was much appreciated and her mother received doubled salary from Ellen’s manager. This tells she was already a professional performer before entering Lyceum Theatre.
There were scores of portraits, sketches, watercolour paintings related to theatres and its plays hanging on the wall in the room and hall. Below Irving’s death mask at Lyceum Room, Ellen’s travelling bed was displayed. According to the guidebook and information panel, it was necessary for the prominent artist like Ellen Terry to carry the travelling bed in those days, as the dressing rooms were sparsely furnished and rehearsal hours were long.
Finally, we entered the Costume Room. As a matter of Shakespeare’s fans and theatre lovers, this room could be the highlight of Smallhythe. There were several types of costume, ideal of which was decided by Ellen considering various roles she performed, e.g. “Portia” in the Merchant of Venice, “Henrietta Maria” in Charles I, etc displayed in the glass case, together with her shoes, belts, and ornate jewels.
Afterwards, we strolled through the Cottage Garden. Old roses, alliums, blue geraniums, forget-me-not, lilacs, bluebells, and peonies were blooming in the flowerbeds in the cottage garden and by the wall and hedges, and roses and foliage were climbing on the façade of the timber-framed house.
We looked round the Barn Theatre, which had been conveyed from the 16th century barn, was established as a playhouse by Edy in 1931, and Shakespeare’s plays have been organised and performed today. We had lunch in the café adjacent to the Barn Theatre.
We continued exploring the garden. We walked on the orchard, woodland walks along the farmland, and St John’s churchyard. Unfortunately, the church was closed on 14 May. We found lovely wildflowers, e.g. rock roses, fully blossomed horse chestnuts, jasmines, and buttercups.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Smallhythe Place and learning about Ellen Terry. We would like to thank Edy’s dedication to shine her extraordinary mother.
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