Tyntesfield

Recently I visited the National Trust property Tyntesfield, which is in North Somerset and around 7 miles from Bristol. It is built in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, and full of really interesting collections, rooms, furniture, and pieces of art. It was on my list to visit this year, but seeing it in the Sherlock special trailer meant that I had to see it for myself! (And yes, I am counting down the days until that episode in broadcast). 

The central staircase

Originally built in the 1830s as a Georgian mansion, it was extensively remodelled and expanded in the 1860s. It was bought by the Trust fairly recently in 2002, and there are many rooms that are still full of collections from floor to ceiling. One of these is open to the public to understand how the house was when it was taken over, and how expansive the collections are. In many other rooms, the Trust has done a fantastic job of recreating the Victorian splendour of Tyntesfield in its prime.

The billiards table with electronic scoring

There are some fantastic objects and pieces of furniture on display throughout the property, including the late Victorian full-size billiards table, with electronic scoring, and its scoreboard, which both stand in the billiard room. Tyntesfield was, in fact, one of the first houses to have electricity installed.

The private chapel

There are a range of rooms that are open in the house, including the higher status rooms in the front of the house, and other rooms that would have been used by the staff. As we visited in mid-November, the house was being prepped for Christmas and undergoing conservation work, which meant that, unfortunately, some of the rooms were closed. However, there were lots of helpful guides of hand to explain what was happening and how the rooms usually looked. Tyntesfield is also open everyday of the year (except for Christmas Day), so I have plenty of time to go back and explore the rest!

Snippets of the top floor tour

The absolute highlight of my visit was the ‘backstage’ tour, which took you around the areas of the house that were occupied by later generations of the family, including the children’s nursery, the servant’s quarters and other rooms. The volunteer who took us around was extremely knowledgable, and with only seven of us in the group, there was plenty of time to ask questions, and take our time looking around. We couldn’t pre-book this tour online and although it wasn’t advertised at the ticket office, we could book our tickets there. From what I can see on the website, these tours aren’t happening with all of the extra things happening over Christmas, but it’s worth asking, and if not, just try out one of the other activities instead! As one of the most popular National Trust properties in the South West, it is also worth reserving your general house tickets online if you want to get in early on the day. 

Overall, it was a great visit, and I will certainly be heading back very soon. 

More information is available at: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tyntesfield

Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum, Devon

Earlier this year, I visited Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum in Devon. It was a few months ago, but I wanted to share the experience with you, as it was a really fun day, and it is well worth a visit!

If you visit Arlington, you won't be able to miss the resident peacocks!

The house was built in 1823, and extended in 1860, but the estate itself was in the Chichester family for over 500 years, before being given to the National Trust in the 1940s. The outside itself certainly doesn’t give anything away, but the interior is full of the family’s collections. The collections include model ships, shells, taxidermy, and a large selection of pewter.

The hall of Arlington Court

The grounds and gardens of Arlington Court cover around 30 acres, and include the formal Victorian garden, with a conservatory rebuilt in 2012, and the walled garden which was reinstated in 2003. A short walk from the house is St James church, which was largely rebuilt in the Victorian period. It's a lovely little church, and well worth taking a trip to. 

The interior of St James Church

There are many great things about Arlington Court, a personal favourite thing for me was the bat-cam room in the cellars. A simple idea, but a great one, giving a glimpse into a species of animal that is present at many historical sites, but often gets little attention.

Visiting in May meant that the Victorian Garden was in full bloom

A short walk along from the house is the National Trust Carriage Museum. It houses nearly 1000 items, the highlight of which is undoubtably the Speaker’s State Coach. 

The granary at Arlington Court, which stands on carved toadstools

Arlington Court is now only open at the weekends over the winter. It is definitely worth a trip, but with its extensive grounds and gardens, I would recommend that you go on a day with good weather, or wait until the Spring (although that’s no guarantee for a sunny day!). Located just to the east of Exmoor, there is plenty to do in the area. 

For more information about Arlington Court, visit http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/arlington-court/

A la Ronde and Killerton House, Devon

A couple of months ago, we were having some lovely weather here in the South West, and my family and I decided to head down to Devon for the day. We started the morning at A la Ronde. 

This is one of the most unique National Trust properties I have ever visited. Overlooking the River Exe, the 16 sided house was built in the 18th century for two spinster cousins on their return from the Grand Tour.

A la Ronde, Devon

The house inside is really quite remarkable. Every corner of it is still filled with objects from the cousins' journeys around Europe, although it has been altered in layout since that time.

A clever use of space on the ground floor of A la Ronde

The house on the inside has plenty of rooms to explore, including the drawing room, with its unusual artworks by the cousins, and the 'Octagon', the green hallway with eight doors.

Just a small selection of the shells housed in A la Ronde

You may have heard of A la Ronde because of its famous Shell Gallery, with its 25,000 shells. Unfortunately, you can no longer see it up close, as it is has been closed off to visitors for the past twenty years. The only ways of viewing it now are using a mirror in the entrance hall, or on a screen at the end of the tour. You can actually view the 360 picture online at: http://www.rodedwards.co.uk/files/20634/alarondeshellgallery/A_La_Ronde_Shell_Gallery.html. 

As is probably obvious from the image above, as picturesque as A la Ronde is (and as nice as the cake is!), it is not a full day's visit. As we were travelling back up to North Somerset, we decided to spend the afternoon at Killerton House, another National Trust property. If you want to stay in the area, there is plenty to do, and Exeter is only a short drive away.

Killerton House is an 18th century property, originally built as a temporary home for the Acland family. There are relatively few rooms open in the house, as the first floor is used as a temporary exhibition space, and currently houses 'The F-word: the changing language of fashion'.

Killerton House Library

The rooms downstairs are well presented, and the library is very inviting, with a great selection of books on local social history that can be browsed. I personally think that it is important that the rooms are used as much as possible, and to me it just makes sense that libraries have books in that you can read! Making them relevant to the property that they are in is a very simple idea, but one that is not actually put into practice that often.

The garden at Killerton is full of colour, and I thought that having interpretation boards describing the plants and the plans for the rest of the year was brilliant. 

Killerton Chapel

Within the grounds is Killerton Chapel, a mid-Victorian building. Built of volcanic trap aslar (known as Killerton stone), the exterior doesn't really give much away, so the dramatic interior was quite a surprise. On reflection, there are a lot of clues to the nature of the interior, such as the rose window in the west end.

Interior of Killerton Chapel

The whole day was really great, but if you visit, be aware that each properties on their own is a half-day, and you should plan around that. There is plenty to do in the area around Exeter however, so you won't struggle to fill up the day.

For more information about A la Ronde, visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/a-la-ronde/

For more information about Killerton, visit: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton/

Montacute House, Somerset

With the nights drawing in, I thought that this was the perfect time to reflect upon some visits that I've made over the past couple of months to historic houses, galleries and other, equally exciting, places. As I've mentioned before, moving to the South West of England has meant that there are plenty more places to explore, some of which I've never heard of before!


One of these is Montacute House, which I visited in June this year. It's a fantastic National Trust property, and well worth a visit! It is an Elizabethan Renaissance mansion, completed in 1601. It was one of National Trust's first great houses after being saved in 1931 by Ernest Cook.

The house itself is great to walk around, with a fascinating range of objects and paintings to discover. If you think it looks familiar, it has appeared several times on screen. Most recently, it has doubled as Greenwich Palace in Wolf Hall (BBC).

Quite often when visiting properties such as this one, rooms are closed without explanation, and it is difficult to understand the changes that they're making. At Montacute, however, there were interpretation boards dotted around to describe changes and renovation that was taking place. It meant that you were able to experience much more of the property, and see different phases of building and decoration too! It would be really great to see this being done at more properties.

Another great thing about Montacute was how open it was. Instead of being limited to one strip of carpet, you could move around the rooms much more freely, and had the chance to look at all of the fascinating objects on display.

One of the highlights of our visit was the National Portrait Gallery exhibit. It contains over 50 Tudor and Jacobean portraits, and was curated with the help of Bristol University students. Whilst I was aware of the exhibition before my visit, I was pleasantly surprised by the range and quality of the collection. I also think that it's fantastic to see portraits of this importance being exhibited in Somerset, and what's more, in a very appropriate setting.

After spending the morning at the house, we decided to head into the village. I would highly recommend doing so, as the village, built almost entirely of local hamstone, is a quintessential English village (and has a couple of very nice pubs too). The church, extensively restored in the 1870s, is also worth a visit.

Montacute House is probably one of the best presented National Trust properties that I have visited in recent years. The staff are very welcoming and knowledgable, and the range of collections, and how they are presented, is fantastic. It's safe to say I'll be returning next year!

For more information about Montacute House, visit: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/montacute-house/