Advertisement
Published: August 31st 2015
Edit Blog Post
Mark had taken a day off on Thursday, 17 July. John & Mary agreed to come down to Audley End on that day. We met up with them at the station’s car park. There was a signpost for Audley End from the station and there were people walking towards the destination. Having entered the site, John was directed to the parking area near the service wing.
As it was lunch time, we decided to have lunch. We secured the table by the window, and were able to see a beautiful landscape garden consisting of the river, arched bridge, Temple of Victory and the sizeable green space.
After lunch, we started strolling through the kitchen adjacent to the restaurant. We looked round Butler’s Pantry, Kitchen, Larder and Cook’s room. There were silver collections owned by the Countess of Portsmouth, Sir John Griffin Griffin and the 3
rd Lord of Braybrooke, who made significant history for Audley End House. The kitchen possessed a large space open through two storeys, with a bank of three fireplaces on the east wall, containing larders and the scullery. Traditional flans, pies and biscuits were displayed on the shelves and on the top
of the cupboards and table to match with the Victorian Kitchen.
Next, we began exploring the Jacobean mansion. Audley End mansion presents unusual features – two porches on the entrance front – and they were to express the parallel arrangement of the king’s and queen’s state apartments.
Initially on the site of Walden Abbey, an authentic Jacobean style mansion was built by Thomas Howard, 1
st earl of Suffolk, who was appointed as lord chamberlain by James I. Thomas Howard seems to have began rebuilding Audley End in about 1605. The rebuilding included providing symmetrical state apartments for King James I (on the south side) and Queen Anne (on the north side) at the first-floor level, linked by a long gallery, adding a courtyard surrounded by lodgings and an outer forecourt through which the house was approached between a double avenue of trees.
After going through the Entrance Hall, we entered the airy room, the Great Hall. Being the heart of the ceremonial place, the Great Hall was decorated with the wood carvings, 17
th century furniture and portraits of represent owners such as Thomas Audley and Lady Jane Cornwallis, wife of the
3
rd Lord Braybrooke.
We walked up the stairs to the Saloon. A large reception room showed an epitome – the combination of modern comfort and ancient splendour that Sir John Griffin Griffin (1719–97) and his successors sought to create from the remains of the Jacobean Audley End. The saloon was decorated with the Gothic plaster frieze and furnished with floral patterned carpet and sofas.
We went on to the 19
th century apartment – the south wing – which housed the royal apartments in the 17
th century. The 3
rd Lord Braybrooke tried to restore the Jacobean features; we found the decorative plaster ceilings and friezes in many rooms. The south wing on the first floor contained the drawing room, two libraries and the dining room.
As a typical stately house, there were a lot of wonderful landscape and still-life paintings and royal portraits, some of which were painted by prestigious painters such as Hans Holbain and Peter Lely in the drawing room.
One of the libraries, The South Library, was displayed as the private library and study. The bookshelves were adjustable ones which would allow owners to change the
heights according to the sizes of the books.
It was necessary to expand bookshelves to accommodate an enormous number of topographical books, and converting from the lady’s dressing room, he created the library on the east edge of south wing, which is now called the Library. As well as well-organised bookshelves, there were a number of pieces of furniture around the fireplace – reading and writing tables, armchairs, sofas and a round table – and it seems that this library was used as an informal sitting room.
After looking round the library, we went to the dining room. The redecorated dining room was furnished with mahogany dining table, chairs, and sideboard, and decorated with the set of seasonal desserts.
We then walked through the South Lobby and reached the Picture Gallery. As expected, Cornwallis family portraits were displayed, but the gallery was dominated by the 6rh Lord Braybrooke’s collections of stuffed birds and animals, which were displayed in the glass cabinets. We also found collections of fossils in the cabinets.
Next, we looked at the Chapel vestibule and the Gothic chapel, two of which were built during Sir
John Griffin Griffin’s time. These were places where family and their guests gathered and did prayers every day.
Afterwards, we walked to the North Wing, and looked round Lady Braybrooke’s sitting room, Neville Bedroom and Dressing room and Howard Suite.
Having been converted from the queen’s state apartment, it was said that, a small room facing to the garden was used as the 3
rd Lady Braybrooke’s dressing and morning room; it has been arranged as it was in the late 19
th century with density and diversity of furnishing – oak furniture, miscellaneous ornaments.
We heard that original pieces of furniture were displayed in the Neville Bedroom and Dressing room – the red bed with original mixed silk and damask, the night tables, the lacquer chest drawer, which were produced in the 18
th century.
The Howard Suite has been displayed next to the Neville Bedroom on the north wing. Having been elevated to his rank as Lord Howard de Walden, Sir John Griffin Griffin anticipated a royal visit. There were floral embroideries executed on the sides of the bed mattress and the canopy of the four-poster bed. With its silk fabrics and elegant-looking appearance, I could see this four-poster bed had been produced for the queen.
We were directed to go to the second floor. The Coal Gallery, in parallel to the Picture Gallery below, seemed to provide hot water and central heating. We saw the coal bin and a calorifier, in which water circulating from a distant boiler transferred heat to water for domestic use.
The nursery room was established after Richard Neville, 3
rd Lord Braybrooke, and his wife Lady Jane Cornwallis had settled in Audley End. We were interested in the portraits of the Braybrooke children and the original doll house, which was completed by the Braybrooke children. The contents of the interior decorations and furnishings included homemade carpets, silk and chintz curtains and bed-hangings and embroidered footstools. Many of the miniature pieces of furniture and table sets were from Germany, but they were arranged by the Braybrooke children.
Sir John Griffin Griffin employed the fashionable and prominent architect Robert Adam in the mid 1760s to create a suite of reception rooms in the height of neoclassical taste, centred on the Great Dining Room. We saw a beautifully furnished room – the Little Drawing Room, which contained a stunning fresco with floral patterned ceilings and intricate carvings of mythological figures and gild fringes.
After looking round the house, we had a cup of tea & coffee and cakes in the restaurant.
We decided to amble through the Pond garden and the Kitchen Garden. Several gardeners were working in the sunny afternoon. The aim of the kitchen garden was to produce fruits and vegetables for the family and their guests at Audley End House. We saw a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and herbs grown on the garden. With restored vine house and reconstructed orangery, we saw tender plants’ collections, plants of young trees, citrus fruits and the grape vine, which looked similar to the one in Hampton Court.
Finally, we went to the Stable Block on the east side of the kitchen garden. The stable block features a typical Jacobean architectural style – built of bricks, with two storeys of small arched windows and an array of gables. We saw big horses kept in the stables, which were refitted by Lord Howard de Walden – the tenant of the Audley End in the early 20
th century. We also saw the display of the estate fire engine, which was supplied by Merryweather and Sons in 1843, and was operated in the late 19
th century.
John and Mary took us to Audley End station.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.141s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 16; qc: 61; dbt: 0.051s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb