Kent 3 - Scotney Castle /a house and a castle / roasted onion soup/Bettys sausage and mash/ cigarette smells

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Our stomachs were rumbling when we drove up to the car park of our next National Trust property . This one was in Kent. We were criss crossing the borders between Kent and its neighbouring county West Sussex. As we drove up we showed our tickets and the young volunteer suggested we parked up on the rough grand to the left side of the car park . There was more room there and also we would see another motorhome parked up. How brilliant that was - for the first time in a long time we were being treated fairly in our larger than a car vehicle . It was nice not be stuck in a corner or being told we were too big to park up.

Our first stop after parking up and locking Gabby was to find the restaurant and hunt out lunch. National Trust restaurants are always good value and with different meals available in each house you never know what you are going to get . We decided to sit inside as we both were feeling the effects of Autumn in the UK. After the heat of Spain we were freezing. Shivering in our clothes. I ordered a roast onion soup with large slab of bread and butter washed down with a fresh orange juice. Glenn chose a pot of tea with his meal comprising of Bettys sausage and mash. Betty was connected with Scotney and loved the sausage and mash. The meal was renamed in her honour. We ate it slowly enjoying just sitting in the warmth next to a fan heater.

After lunch we walked through the outside seating area and the plant sales into the ticket office. Another chance to get some money back on our annual fees.

Scotney is a property that gives twice the pleasure . Both a castle and a house. The house is the first thing you see. We stood outside taking photographs . We don't feel we will have many pictures this year for our photo book. Probably though we will be pleasantly surprised as I clicked away where possible. Clicking away we took in the house and its architectural style . It was one of those lovely houses you wish you could own. Built in the Picturesque style the central features of the estate are the ruined medieval moated manor house Scotney Old Castle which sits on its own island. It is surrounded by sloping wooded gardens. At the top of the gardens stands Scotney New Hall designed by Anthony Salvin. This was what we wer looking at. A quietly restrained version of Tudor Revival. It was bequeathed with its complete contents to the National Trust when its owner Elizabeth Hussey died in 2006. There you go you now know the origin of Bettys sausages . It seems Elizabeth was fond of sausage and mash . She stipulated that nothing inside the house should be sold and it had to remain exactly as it was on the day she died.

Inside we were welcomed by the knowledgeable room guides. Have you been before they asked? No we said and they issued us with a guide for the rooms. Now I don't know about you but I hate the guides that you are issued with. Having a hearing problem I cannot use the headsets without taking my hearing aids out. I get behind on the information given about each room and find myself losing my place or falling behind Glenn. It is impossible to tell him what I am hearing and they just get in the way. So normally I refuse them politely. When they offer a paper copy I still struggle. I guess it is interesting to read about a room, who owned it, what it was used for and what furniture is in the room. But again I get too far behind and spend too long listening to things I am not particularly interested in. The guide showed us the plan of downstairs and pointed to our right . Just follow the route round and you will come back round to this point. Then you can go upstairs, turn right and again follow the route.

The hall was as always filled with flowers on every surface. There was wood dark in colour, cupboards and clocks . The usual Victorian hallway on a grand scale . All the rooms downstairs were exactly the same as any other major Victorian household. Some furniture had obviously come from the much older Old Scotney castle but many items had been added in the last hundred years. There were reception rooms shaded by the thin white curtains which kept out the sunlight . Dining rooms with the tables set as if Betty had just popped out into the garden. Books that she was reading were dotted around each room. It felt a house that was still lived in but still harking back to the past. The kitchen was divided into an older one and a newer one. The newer one was perfect 1950's style updated for Bettys use. A 1950's electric cooker and a new microwave oven. A cross between an old kitchen of the Victorian period and a day to day 1980's kitchen. A very strange combination of styles. An AGA used for heating. Cupboards full of 1960's crockery. Upstairs were bedrooms and bathrooms full of ancient artifacts and furniture. Also full of modern bedding and items from the 1960's . Her wardrobe full of dresses she wore for day to day use and for more formal occaisions. Her shoes, hats and gloves were all neatly placed ready for use. It became clearer and clearer that Betty had had her way and none of her items were removed from her home.

Outside was a pretty garden which wrapped itself around the house. Immaculate lawns and long borders. Our goal was to walk down the Quarry through the wilder part of the garden and find the old castle which held more interest for us. The earliest record of the old castle comes from 1137 when Lambert de Scoteni held the land and estate . The castle was probably built between 1378 and and 1380. It was stunning seeing it for the first time sitting on its own moat. No catfish here. Two castles for the price of one. Very different in style to the house up top. This was more of a fortified house with towers. The wings were built in an Elizabethan style in 1580 with black and white timbering. A further range was added later as the needs of the family grew . The house was partially dismantled in 1843 and materials used for the new house up the hill . A romantic ruin it became a garden feature and a folly. But what a wonderful folly it was. We both agreed the falling down dilapidated old castle was far more interesting than Bettys house. Inside the rooms were empty and unloved. A tiny hall opened out through doors to small and dusty rooms. A massive oak staircase climbed to the second floor where further empty musty rooms were open. The Darrell family owned this house for the best part of 350 years and the predominant religion was Catholicism which meant priest holes and stories of priests fleeing over walls into the moat to escape. It was the Hussey family who bought the estate in 1778 and demanded a new home with creature comforts.

The bottom gardens were laid out to rhodedendrum and azaleas which would look delightful and colourful in the Spring. Mauve was the predominant colour with Michaelmas Daisies blooming everywhere .

So what about our Betty of the sausage fame? We overheard stories about her as the guides told their tales to visitors. She was the daughter of Peter Kerr Smilley a commissioned lieutenant in the 21st Lancers. In 1905 he adopted the surname of Kerr Smilley and in the same year married Maud Simpson the daughter of Ernest Simpson. So there was a connection with Mrs Simpson of Edward and Mrs Simpson fame . Elizabeth was one of two children and married Christopher Hussey. Did you know Margaret Thatcher rented a flat here to get her out of the hustle and bustle of being a Prime Minister in London. The facts still kept coming. There is a dinosaur fossil footprint in the Quarry.

By now though it was time to leave and we headed back to Gabby . The plan to stay the night at the caravan site at Henley on Thames. A very interesting town on the river Thames. Affluent with no empty shops in the High STreet. No charity shops just small independents. It oozed money . Our campsite was a 15 minute walk into town but with the rain now coming down we were just hunkered down for the night . Another episode of Peaky Blinders on the menu. As always the facilities were excellent and it was the perfect end to our September holiday.

Only one last thing to do - check our mileage , check our petrol consumption and head to Wales to view the property. From the outside it appeared interesting. Large enough for a motorhome on the drive. A sign warning of a dog . The smell of cigarette smoke permeating everything from the carpets to the furniture. An odd house with odd wood burner, strange breakfast room and tiny kitchen. With its small garden it wasn't for us . Back to the house drawing board .

Arriving home can you guess what was the first thing we thought about? Not that we were home - but more like where are we going to next ?

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Welcome home!
Yours was a very different vacation. I love the castles of South England.