Baddesley Clinton Hall

Baddesley Clinton Hall



Baddesley Clinton first caught my eye at Marylebone Tube where the picture of the moated manor house provides an alluring double width poster on the Tube wall. So on one of the few fine Sundays in August we head up the M40 to Shakespeare’s County (and my father’s! http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/11/moonlight-sonata_14.html ) of Warwickshire to see this historic house which has stood here since the 13th Century.





Ferrers family portraits



Baddesley Clinton is a medieval moated manor house just to the south east of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The Baddesley part of the name comes from a Saxon called Baeddi who cleared the site in the Forest of Arden. The Clinton part comes from the Clinton family who dug the moat in the 13th century. This atmospheric house we see today dates from the 15th century and was the home of the Ferrers family for 500 years. The house and interiors reflect its heyday in the Elizabethan era, when it was a haven for persecuted Catholics – there are three priest's holes. There is a delightful garden with stewponds (ponds which provided fish for the house) and a romantic lake and nature walk.











Baddesley Clinton Hall was originally a 13th century fortified manor house, founded by Thomas de Clinton. The rectangular platform encased by a wide revetted moat, now supports the remains of a 15th century stone quadrangular strong house, founded by the Brome family. The east range is flanked by a two storey gatehouse, with four gunloops but the original hall in the north range has disappeared. To the north and north east are the linear depressions and undulations of The Forecourt, medieval building ranges, which were dismantled during the early 18th century.







This moated manor house just north of the historic town of Warwick in the English county of Warwickshire was probably established sometime in the 13th century. When large areas of the Forest of Arden were cleared and eventually converted to farmland, this large fortified manor house was probably also built. In 1438, John Brome, the Under Treasurer of England, bought the manor. It then passed to his son, Nicholas, who is thought to have built the East Range, which is the main entrance. Nicholas is also responsible for the extensive rebuilding of the nearby church of St Michael's, done as penance for killing the parish priest, a murder reputed to have taken place in the great house itself.











The Hall was built as a semi-fortified manor-house surrounded by a moat, and approached by a drawbridge. It now consists of three sides (or ranges) of an approximate rectangle, having lost its west range. The internal courtyard was originally about 57 ft. north to south and 37 ft. east to west, and were not a true rectangle, the west and north sides being a little longer than those opposite them; the ranges are roughly 25 ft. deep. The moat averages about 30 ft. in width on three sides and about half that width on the east. The entrance front with a gatehouse is towards the north. All the ranges are of two stories.











As you drive up the private road to the house from Rising Lane, you start to wonder if it's worth visiting. All you can see is fields and trees. The house is not in sight until you get to the car park. From a distance it looks fairly modest. But once you get closer, the significance of the place begins to penetrate.4





Bedroom



It was the home of the Ferrers, a staunch Catholic family, for 500 years. The gem of a country manor house, part of which dates back to medieval times, is surrounded by a moat, which is the oldest feature of Baddesley. It originally had a drawbridge but this had been replaced by a gatehouse built by Sir Edward Ferrers by the 1520s. As you walk around the moat, it becomes visually clear that each side of the house was built in different eras in the 17th and 18th centuries, despite the Ferrers family's long-lasting financial difficulties.









Great Hall



Baddesley Clinton has seen little change since 1633 when Henry Ferrers 'the Antiquary' died. Henry Ferrers was Squire at Baddesley for almost seventy years and remodelled the house over a long period of time, introducing much of the panelling and chimney pieces. Henry was proud of his ancestry and began the tradition at Baddesley of armorial glass, which has continued to the present day.









Armorial glass



The house experienced one of its most dramatic events during the Tudor period. During this time it was an offence to attend Catholic mass, people were fined for not attending Church of England services and Priests could suffer savage punishment. In an attempt to maintain the faith, priests were trained abroad, smuggled into the country and then hidden by a covert network of sympathisers. In Warwickshire, as elsewhere in England, many of the gentry continued to practice what they saw as the true faith. One such family were the Ferrers who owned Baddesley Clinton.





Priesthole



In 1591, the house was the scene for a secret conference of Catholic Priests. Amongst those at the conference were the well known Jesuit Priests John Gerard, and Henry Garnet as well as seven or eight fellow Jesuits, other Priests and a few fugitive sympathisers. All of these people were being actively sought by the authorities and the capture of such a group would have dealt a serious blow to the secret Catholic mission to England.





Chapel



Four armed Priest hunters (known as Pursuivants) had arrived and were loudly threatening a servant who had barred the door to them. Because the servant had delayed their entry the Priests inside the house had time to hide their vestments and the altar stuff. The Priests even had time to turn the mattresses on their beds so that they would not feel warm to a searchers touch.





Library



By the time the mistress of the house had come downstairs and allowed the searchers to enter, the Priests were hidden in a secret hide underneath the house. They had to remain crouched here for four hours whilst the search went on above them. Eventually the searchers tired of their efforts and left after they had extracted payment from the household for their troubles. John Gerard wrote the account of this search in his memoirs when he escaped England and returned to live the rest of life on the continent. Robert Southwell and Henry Garnet were not so lucky as both of them were later caught and executed by being hung, drawn and quartered.











Restoring the stonework in Arden Shale, a local sandstone



Baddesley Clinton also has a strong link to Cardinal John Henry Newman. He was a friend of the family and received Lady Chatterton, Edward Dering and Rebecca Ferrers into the Catholic Church in 1865. After this, he occasionally visited Baddesley and there is a portrait of him by Rebecca in the lower landing. At least two saints (Robert Southwell and Nicholas Owen) walked the corridors of this house. This number may well rise to three in years to come.







The decoration and furnishing of the house also bears the stamp of Marmion Edward Ferrers, and his wife Rebecca who continued to embellish the house with stained glass and heraldry. Pictures painted by Rebecca remain to show how the romantic character of Baddesley was enjoyed in the late nineteenth century when the family also re-created a sumptuously furnished Chapel.











Baddesley Clinton has a particularly beautiful garden which includes ponds, a walled garden, lakeside walk and nature trail. The gardens at Baddesley Clinton are delightful. They surround the moated manor and include formal courtyard garden, wildflower and meadow garden, woodland/lakeside walks, and stew ponds. Edward Ferrers was responsible for creating the ‘court garden’ by 1722 as part of his improvements to the house. It is an enclosed and formal area of grass, in the centre of which a sundial has recently been reinstated with surrounding borders of shrub roses. It also contains a very attractive reconstruction of a thatched decorative shelter in the cottage ornée tradition where ladies could shelter from either the rain or sun on the perambulations.













It is well worth a perambulation to this day to view the superb dahlia border and the herb borders. There is a Japanese style bridge over the Long Ditch linking the stewponds and nature trail areas by the lake and walks through the old estate are both clearly signposted and rewarding.





One too many!

Stewponds and lake



Like most National Trust this is a well run property with the former farm and stable yards providing the visitor facilities which include an entrance and information building, an outdoor snack bar, a Barn Restaurant, a book sale and sales of plants from the gardens along with garden furniture.





















Court Garden



The barn housing the restaurant was built in 1721-2 incorporating trusses from the earlier buildings on the site. It was used for storing and threshing grain. The restaurant has turned back the clock to discover the tastes of those times past. Selections of home-cooked foods are now on offer including sandwiches, salads, hot main dishes and puddings. Morning coffee is served from 11.00am, lunches from 12noon until 2.30pm and afternoon tea until 5.00pm.



The house itself is hugely atmospheric. The heirs of the Ferrers family spent 10 years attempting to transfer Baddesley Clinton to the National Trust and over the years much of the original furniture was sold to keep the wolf from the door. However some of the original fixtures have been reinstated and the Manor has been furnished and laid out in a style appropriate to its age. There are helpful and fascinating displays throughout as you go around adding depth and background to the experience. A particular mention must be made of the extremely helpful volunteer staff who are very happy to volunteer information and share their obvious enthusiasm for this unique slice of England’s history.



So visit and enjoy a day out at one of the most enchanting properties owned by the National Trust.





Getting to Baddesley Clinton



Baddesley Clinton



Rising Lane, Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire B93 0DQ

Telephone: 01564 783294



Opening Times.



House:



10th February to 31st October:



Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 11.00am - 5.00pm.







Grounds/shop/restaurant:



10th February to 19th December 2010:



Wednesday to Sunday (3 Nov - 19 Dec 11.00 am - 4.00 pm)

House also open 1 Dec - 19 Dec 2010 11.00 am - 4.00 pm



Seven day opening during school holidays - please check with the property for details.



Website; http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-baddesleyclinton







For other nearby National Trust properties see;



Upton House



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/09/upton-house-oxfordshire.html



Farnborough Hall



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/search/label/Farnborough%20Hall

Compton Verney, Warwickshire

For many years in England the only form of a gamble which didn’t involve going to a Betting Shop was the Football Pools where you had to predict the outcome of football matches. The main pools company was Littlewoods owned by the Moore’s family from Liverpool. The family have largely retired from business using their large cash pile for philanthropy. They endow and support John Moores University and today I was heading up the M40 Motorway to one of my favourite parts of England, South Warwickshire to see another fruit of the family’s philanthropy, Compton Verney Art Gallery.

The Verney in the title refers to the same family which own Claydon House (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/claydon-house-buckinghamshire.html ) and like many landowners they were attracted to the rich rolling landscape of North Oxfordshire and South Warwickshire which was rich farming country. Many tourists pass through this area on their way to Stratford on Avon to “do Shakespeare” oblivious to the many attractions of this charming area with a number of fine country houses such as Farnborough Hall (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/search/label/Farnborough%20Hall ), Charlecote Park and Upton House (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/09/upton-house-oxfordshire.html ). As we turned off the M40 at J12 we went through Gaydon and another characteristic of the area became apparent for we passed in quick succession the Motor Heritage Centre, and then the headquarters of Jaguar / Land Rover and beyond them the sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. For Coventry, the county town of Warwickshire was the car manufacturing capital of England and the wealth created often was spent on substantial Country Seats. But Compton Verney is not marketed as a heritage property for it was virtually derelict when the Moores Foundation bought it with the express purpose of creating an Art Gallery and Collection. So they spent 10 years renovating the property and building a well crafted modern extension at the rear. This is a gallery of the highest standard with curatorial staff and a resource centre attached which means it can host major touring exhibitions. Anticipation was high as we went up the driveway which was designed to impress with Capability Brown grounds and a decorative bridge on an ornamental lake on the approach.


Sir Peter Moores

Compton Verney is a Grade 1 listed mansion house designed in the 1760s by Robert Adam. It is set in more than 120 acres of classical parkland which was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown between 1769 and 1772. The estate was bought in 1993 by the Peter Moores Foundation when the house and grounds were in a state of decay. The Compton Verney House Trust was established to transform the mansion into an art gallery. Compton Verney is an award winning art gallery in Warwickshire which offers a unique opportunity to view art in the setting of a Grade 1 listed Robert Adam mansion located in 120 acres of spectacular parkland. Compton Verney houses six permanent collections and has a programme of exhibitions.





Until the early 20th century Compton Verney was home to the Verney or ‘Willoughby de Broke’ family for almost 500 years. It has now been transformed from a derelict eighteenth-century Robert Adam mansion into a gallery of international standing, offering a combination of high quality attractions and facilities. The project took ten years to complete and over twenty gallery spaces have been created. Compton Verney is unique in that it is a place where art, architecture, landscape and learning fuse, to offer the visitor an experience that is completely integrated and accessible.

This classic Grade II listed landscape, with trademark Cedars of Lebanon, is viewed from the B4086 Bridge over the Compton Pools. The bridge, like the house, is the work of Robert Adam.



The Robert Adam mansion house and group of service buildings have been conserved and extended using contemporary architecture and design, and this transformation has been led by two architects, Stanton Williams and Leamington-based Rodney Melville & Partners. The sensitive combination of new and restored Grade 1 listed buildings and spaces have been realised in construction and craftsmanship of outstanding quality. Attention to detail on the use of appropriate materials, natural lighting and works of art on open display, compliment the collections and the site itself. The qualities of the materials chosen; handmade bricks, hand-tooled stone, glass and steel, reflect the spirit of the original buildings, while bringing a new dynamic to the architectural composition. The buildings are linked from a single point of entry and the family of service buildings have been developed to incorporate a Learning Centre and offices.




The old and new buildings - inside and out



Compton Verney is set in more than 120 acres of Grade 2* listed classical parkland, landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the most eminent landscape architect of the eighteenth-century. Although the original estate was split up and sold a century ago, the ‘pleasure grounds’ still clearly reflect the sweeping grassland, ornamental lakes and Cedars of Lebanon for which Brown is famous. On arrival at the site visitors pass one of the lakes and cross a bridge, designed by Robert Adam, which is now adorned by four recently recovered sphinxes.


Grave in the grounds of Geraldine Smith Barry of Fota Island, Queenstown wife of Henry Verney

In common with the house, the grounds were badly neglected during the twentieth-century and returning the Grade 2 listed landscape to its former glory requires considerable restoration, for which Compton Verney has drawn up an extensive recovery and replanting programme. In 2003 the Trust re-acquired the historic south park and is restoring wildlife habitats by replacing crops with an eighteenth-century landscape of trees and grassland.



Compton Verney houses six permanent collections, focusing on areas currently under-represented in British museums and galleries. The collections are owned by the Compton Verney Collections Settlement and continue to grow, supported by funds from the Peter Moores Foundation. The temporary exhibitions programme offers both historic and contemporary shows and is designed to appeal to a wide audience.
Compton Verney has more than 800 works of art in its permanent collections, all of which have been gifted to the Compton Verney Collection Settlement. The collection is still growing today. The sense of Sir Peter Moores’ personal involvement with Compton Verney helps to explain the highly individual nature of its collection – or rather distinct collections. On the ground floor are paintings and decorative arts relating to Naples in the 17th and 18th centuries, German paintings and sculpture of the late Middle Ages and early renaissance, and British portraits and furniture from 1550 to 1750. Upstairs is Chinese art – largely bronzes – together with galleries for temporary exhibitions, and in the attics is the country’s largest public collection of British folk art.

Naples 1600 – 1800; Compton Verney's collection of paintings from Naples represents a cross-section of masterpieces from the 'Golden Age' of Neapolitan art from 1600 to 1800 when Naples was the third largest city in Europe and the destination of the “Grand Tour”. It includes religious scenes by Bernardo Cavallino, Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena; still-life paintings by Paolo Porpora and Giuseppe Ruoppolo; and the work of Strozzi, Bonito and Volaire. The collection has gradually grown over a number of years, and now represents the best Neapolitan artists of this period.


Lord and Lady Hamilton in Naples

Northern European 1450 – 1650 Collection; the inspiration to collect works of art from northern Europe came from Sir Peter Moores’ visits to Vienna and Germany in the 1950s. In Germany he admired the simplicity and craftsmanship of the sculptures and paintings dating from 1450 to 1600. Several of the works of art in this collection come from near Nuremberg in southern Germany, which from 1450 to 1550 was home to an important circle of artists and craftsmen, including the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider.

The British Portraits collection includes a selection of works relating to the history of fine art and decorative art in England. Visitors to Compton Verney when it was the home of the Verney family may have seen works like these in the main rooms of the house. Portraits of familiar Tudor figures such as Henry VIII are accompanied by lesser-known figures such as the Elizabethan courtier Thomas Knyvet. There are also some significant pieces of furniture, such as a table that may have been commissioned by Queen Mary II.

The collection of Chinese bronzes at Compton Verney is one of the best in Britain outside the British Museum. The vessels were produced over a period of over 1500 years under many different Chinese rulers, and date from the early Shang Dynasty (about 1700 to 1050 BC) to the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220). They were used during religious rituals and ancestor worship, and were buried in the tombs of the deceased. The collection also includes pottery pieces, such as a set of twelve painted pottery equestrian figures made for placing in a tomb to guard the deceased.


Ming cloisinee stem cup

Compton Verney has the largest collection of British folk art in the country, acquired for the gallery in 1993 to prevent it being split up and sold abroad. It is made up of a mixture of paintings and objects such as trade-signs and weathervanes. The term ‘folk art’ describes work produced by people with no formal art training – for example, some works in the collection were made by travelling salesmen such as sign-painters.


Military patchwork

The Marx-Lambert Collection is a bequest from Enid Marx, who was a graphic artist and textile designer. The items she left to Compton Verney include her own designs, and other pieces of folk or popular art that she and her friend Margaret Lambert collected, and which inspired her designs. One display which caught my eye was a “Stevengraph” - a woven picture showing a steam train inscribed Lord Howe pulling two railway carriages. It is an example of the fashion for mechanically woven ribbon pictures, known as Stevengraphs in the period 1850-1900, which was a speciality at Thomas Stevens's firm in Coventry. Ribbon weaving had been an important industry since 1800, but by 1850 the industry began to decline. Production of Stevengraphs however, continued with the introduction of new subjects and both Marx and Lambert had a number of Stevengraphs in their home. The reason it caught my eye was on the moonlit night of Thursday 14 November 1940 the old city of Coventry was destroyed and a new word was invented 'Coventration'. Over 500 German bombers massed for the biggest raid of the war to date - their target Coventry - a city at the industrial heart of Britain's war production engine. The inhabitants of Coventry sheltering from the Blitz in rudimentary air raid shelters that night included my father who as a 10 year old boy was in the cellars of the Stevengraph factory. They were moved at 3.30 am to another shelter and when the all clear was sounded in the morning they emerged to find that the Stevengraph factory and the shelter had been totally destroyed.

Stevengraph "Lord Howe pulling two railway carriages"

The touring exhibitions when we visited were Constable Portraits and Surrealism and Contemporary Art.


John Constable



John Constable (1776 - 1837) is renowned as a landscape artist, yet his portraits are rarely seen and far less well-known. Spanning thirty years and featuring over 40 works this exhibition for the first time takes the viewer deeper into Constable's landscapes, revealing the people who occupied his world. The exhibition contains paintings and drawings of his family, close friends and children, interspersed with Constable's landscape paintings of the areas surrounding his homes. The exhibition will set out to support Lucian Freud's claim that Constable was a key figure in the history of English portrait painting. For me the revelation was the closeness he maintained to family and friends and his 7 year courtship of his wife Mary who he married despite concerted opposition from her family.



The exhibition on Surrealism and Contemporary Art brought together the pioneers of Surrealism and a generation of younger artists who continue to find inspiration in the intellectual and aesthetic origins of the movement. The exhibition looks at two areas: Wandering the City and Psychic Interiors. The first of these examines the artist walking through the city as a means to discover hidden social spaces as well as unconscious fears and desires. From Brassaï's atmospheric night-time photographs of an unfamiliar Paris to George Shaw's melancholy depictions of playgrounds and the Coventry estate where he grew up, attention is drawn to the derelict, disused spaces of urban environments. Within this section, ideas of social and political exclusion, regeneration, borders, margins and journeys are explored.


Proper cakes!

The visitor facilities are like the Gallery first class. The exhibitions have full step free access throughout and are displayed to the highest standard. Each gallery has a leaflet with the details of the exhibits so you don’t cluster around labels to get the details. There are excellent toilet facilities throughout with once again top class disabled provision. The bright shop has an excellent selection of Art related merchandise and publications. The catering facilities are first class including an excellent coffee shop and an award winning restaurant. As it was a special anniversary we went for lunch there. The restaurant was bright with a compact menu featuring local seasonal produce. Like the rest of Compton Verney it was unfussy and the service was excellent. For mains I had a wonderful plate of a Pork fillet with wholegrain mustard mash, served with fresh seasonal vegetables & Hogan's cider sauce. Her indoors had a main salad of smoked trout and prawns which was served terrine like on a beetroot salsa. Both were fine plates of food where the freshness of the ingredients made for a highly satisfying experience. For puds (deserts in the rest of the world) I enjoyed my selection of local cheeses, a Berkswell sheep’s cheese, a Hereford Hop and a Sage Derby served with excellent oaten biscuits, grapes, celery sticks and apple chutney. The carrot cake was top class and the restaurant has a selection of “proper” cakes, all freshly baked on the premises. An excellent pit stop with high standards of preparation and presentation and it was obvious looking around the crowded restaurant, a loyal following of repeat customers.


Restaurant


Cheeeseboard


Pork in cider sauce with mustard mash

We didn’t know what to expect and sometimes places like these can be a rich man’s vanity project which speak more of their sense of self importance than of anything else. Well if Peter Moores is vain he carries it lightly. Rather we felt this was a place well worth visiting, high on interest and where visitors are not patronised but made welcome and treated with respect. It was noticeable the positive impression that the staff gave throughout from reception to the restaurant to the galleries that they enjoyed working here and wanted to make you welcome. So when you bought your tickets the staff member made a point of explaining the layout and where to go, the gallery staff were helpful and engaged with visitors and staffing the restaurant were helpful and engaged in conversations with the customers. Overall a very positive impression and a place well worth the trip in this interesting and somewhat overlooked corner of England’s green and pleasant land.



Opening Hours 2009
Saturday 21 March - Sunday 13 December
Tuesday - Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays
11am - 5pm

Last entry to the galleries is 1/2 hour before closing.

Compton Verney is situated 9 miles east of Stratford-upon-Avon on the B4086 between Wellesbourne and Kineton and is 6 miles drive from the M40, Junction 12 and follow brown signs. Compton Verney is a 40-minute drive from Birmingham International Airport, or 90 minutes from Heathrow.

Compton Verney
Warwickshire
CV35 9HZ



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