Author: nick_xylas

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Wessex Attractions: Stourhead

Stourhead is a Georgian villa built in the Palladian style and home of the Hoare family from 1725 until 1946, when it was donated to the National Trust. It is the home to over 8000 historic artifacts, including a cabinet built in Rome for Pope Sixtus V, and an original Axminster carpet which is currently being restored. thanks to a generous donation by the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The world famous landscape garden was at the forefront of the 18th century fashion for Italianate gardens. Highlights include a grotto where one can cool off from the summer heat, and a replica of the Pantheon in Rome (illustrated).

The surrounding estate features King Alfred’s Tower, built in 1760 to commemorate the Accession of Mad King George and the end of the Seven Years’ War. Local tradition says that it stands on the site of an earlier tower, from which King Alfred lit a beacon fire to muster the men of Wessex against the Danes, though there is little evidence to support this story.

The satnav postcode for the car park is BA12 6QD. The house is open from 1100-1600, seven days a week. Sadly, it is not served by public transport, with the nearest bus stop being over a mile away.

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Wessex Attractions: Barrington Court

Barrington Court is a Tudor manor in Somerset built from Ham Hill Stone which, in 1907, became the first country house to be bought by the National Trust. The site was originally a Roman villa, but the present house dates back to 1559. It was constructed in the classic Elizabethan E shape, with projecting wings and a central porch.

The house was the country retreat of one William Clifton (c1510-1564), master of the Merchant Tailor’s Guild in That London. After Clifton’s death, it passed to his descendants until it was bought in 1625 by the wealthy Strode family, cloth merchants from Shepton Mallet.

After passing through a succession of owners, it was gifted to the National Trust by Julia Woodward of Clevedon. Its restoration was paid for by the Lyle family, of Tate & Lyle fame.

Today, the gardens, designed by Gertrude Jekyll, and surrounding parkland are open to the public; and there is a cafe and a shop. The postcode is TA19 0NQ, but the Trust advises visitors not to use this for satnav purposes, as it directs people to the rear entrance. Follow the brown tourist signs instead. The house is also served by Stagecoach bus services 632 and 633, Ilminster to Martock.

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Wessex Attractions: Bembridge Windmill

Bembridge Windmill is the last surviving windmill on the Isle of Wight. Bequeathed to the National Trust in 1961, it is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

The windmill was built around 1700, and has featured in a watercolour by JMW Turner. The first record we have of a named miller is 1811, when the Hampshire Chronicle recorded a Mr Cook, miller of Bembridge, as having frozen to death there.

Today, the mill is preserved much as it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. Those who are able to manage steep steps can climb to the top and see the view, spotting the six hidden millers on the way, On the ground floor, visitors can try their hand at grinding flour in the traditional way, whilst several nature trails run outside the mill.

Visitors are advised not to use the postcode (PO35 5SQ) for satnav purposes, but to follow the brown signs. Southern Vectis bus service 8 from Ryde to Newport passes nearby.

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Wessex Worthies: Sebastian Cabot

Sebastian Cabot (1474-1557) was the son of the famous Venetian explorer John Cabot (1450-1500), and followed in his father’s footsteps in leading expeditions from Bristol. Late in life, he claimed to have been born there, but he appears to have been suffering from cognitive decline by that point, and most modern historians believe that he was born in the Venetian Republic.

Cabot left a note on his famous map of the New World claiming to have reached North America with his father in 1494, three years before the famous voyage of the Matthew, This may have been a transcription error in subsequent copies of the manuscript, or Cabot may have been trying to nudge the date forward a few years in order to advance Spanish or Portuguese territorial claims over those of England or France.

Better attested is his 1504 voyage from Bristol, in which he took two ships, the Jesus and the Gabriel past Cuba and as far as the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, by the time he returned, Henry VII, who had sponsored the voyage, had died, and his son Henry VIII showed little interest in exploring the New World at the time. He later relented, and tried to sponsor a voyage in 1521, but the Drapers’ Company was reluctant to fund it, and the voyage was abandoned.

Interestingly, David Hackett Fischer devoted a section of his book Albion’s Seed to the fact that the English settlement of the Chesapeake Bay area was dominated by Wessaxons. And there exists to this day a Wessex Society of Newfoundland (no connection to this website beyond the name), which promotes the Wessaxon heritage of the island. Sebastian Cabot, whether or not he was a native son of Wessex, surely stands along with his father as the person most responsible for these historic links.

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Wessex Attractions: Ashdown House

Ashdown House, on the Berkshire Downs, in some ways represents the very heart of Wessex. Centuries before the house was built, the surrounding area was pretty much all that was left of the ancient kingdom of the West Saxons. A victory led by King Ethelred I and his brother Alfred, soon to succeed him as king, led to a change in fortunes, but that is a subject for another article.

The present-day Ashdown House was built in 1662 for William, 1st Earl of Craven. He had donated substantially to the royalist cause during the English civil war, though he himself did not fight, being safely ensconced in The Hague. There, he met King Frederick and Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, who were in exile following Frederick’s defeat at the Battle of the White Mountain. Craven married Elizabeth following Frederick’s death in 1632, Craven provided financial support to Elizabeth, and they are rumoured to have married in secret, though there is no proof of this. Regardless, she came to live in his house in Drury Lane, London. Worried by the great plague in London, he built her a country house in the Dutch style at Ashdown. Unfortunately, she died before it was completed, bequeathing him many of her possessions, which can be seen at Ashdown House to this day.

The house is now owned by the National Trust. The surrounding gardens and woodlands are open all year round, while guided tours of the house are available on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Advance booking for these is essential. The postcode is RG17 8RE, and West Berks Connect bus number 47, Swindon to Lambourn, stops right outside.