Tag / Swaffham

Another fantastic breakfast at the Strattons, and we hit the road. Wanting to squeeze in one final country estate before catching our train back to London, we headed straight for Burghley House.

Built originally in the 16th century by Lord Burghley, who served as chief counsellor of Elizabeth I, the house has been modified, cared for, and lived in ever since by his descendants. The care really shows, from the meticulous lawns and sculpted gardens outside to the vivid ceilings and lush tapestries inside. The house tour takes visitors in via a historic kitchen, complete with an enormous hearth with rotating spit for roasting meat. Learned that at one time, dogs on a treadmill powered the rotisserie! Up the ornate-carved stone Roman stairway to the main floor state rooms. The rooms are quite beautiful and varied. The billiard room was homey with a large green felt billiard table and oversized Turkish style divan…definitely 19th century additions. A cozy bedroom with large bed played host to Queen Victoria and Albert…apparently so well that they missed breakfast in the morning. A series of connected signature rooms (the George rooms) along one side of the house have colorful ceilings by Antonio Verrio who also painted similar ceilings at Windsor castle. The largest of the rooms is painted to impress and inspire: “Heaven” covers the ceiling and three walls with robed figures and mythological iconography. The room also holds an enormous solid silver wine cooler. Next door, in another grand staircase is “Hell,” complete with firery images of damnation surrounding you as you descend to the ground floor. The last room is a large Gothic hall with hammer-beam ceiling…famously used as the dining venue when Victoria and Albert stayed. Upon leaving the hall, a display showcased Lord Burghley’s Olympic Gold and Silver medals won in the 1930’s track events. The collection also includes a 2012 Olympic Torch from another legendary runner: Lord Coe.

Outside, we visited two gardens. One a traditional sculpture garden, albeit one with modern art scattered in clearings and alcoves in a wooded portion of the grounds. The second was the experiential Garden of Surprises, with hedge-separated rooms…each with a whimsical water feature. To finish our visit, we took a semi-loop around the house, along the sprawling manicured lawns. The afternoon sun lit up the house and reminded us how amazing Britain is in the autumn.

We returned our car in Peterborough, and grabbed a fast train to London, arriving into King’s Cross around half past five. We grabbed a taxi back to the Doubletree Marble Arch where we happily snagged an upgrade to much bigger room this time to finish the trip in style!

For our evening walk, we strolled down familiar paths and soaked up the atmosphere of a chilly night in London. We returned to Cây Tre in Soho for dinner…we had been craving their rich campfire beef and hearty Vietnamese fried rice since last week. A perfect choice for a repeat! Relaxing drinks at The Yard, followed by a late night walk full of random turns. We arrived back at the room after midnight with tired feel but rested minds.

Awoke to brilliant sun, a breeze, and a proper Autumn chill. We had a wonderful English breakfast (eggs, country bacon, sausage, fried tomatoes, and mushrooms) at the Strattons, served with a strong dark coffee to fuel our morning. Took a quick morning walk to Swaffam’s beautiful 15th-century Anglican Church, the Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul. A muted pipe organ signaled that Sunday morning worship was in full swing so we circled the exterior. A classic limestone gray stone church with a soaring bell tower. An impressively old (and quite full) graveyard surrounded the building on three sides. Jaunty gravestones dipped towards dew-soaked grass.

A short 20 minute drive along narrow winding roads and we passed through the stately gates at Houghton Hall. A straight-as-an-arrow pea gravel road lead toward the car park. White fallow deer grazed like cattle under broad oaks in the parkland. Deer pellets everywhere…along with brilliant green lawns.

Began our visit in the stables, carriage house, and woodshop. Next we ventured into the formal walled gardens for a short visit before our time-slot to enter the mail home. The gardens are subdivided by towering hedges, allowing many different styles and purposes to co-exist within one garden. A beautiful vegetable garden bursting with fall veggies. Tidy groves of apple trees. Lines of espalier pear trees. Beds of English wildflowers. A traditional rose garden with sunken fountain. A classic white greenhouse. Even a tucked-away croquet area. The gardens were utterly peaceful and inspiring.

1:30PM. On to the main event…the entire reason we planned this trip…Houghton Hall and the Houghton Revisited exhibit to be precise. For the first time in 230 years, this impressive original collection of paintings has been re-assembled from various museums–particularly the Russian State Hermitage–and shown in their original placements around the grand rooms. An impressive collection of portraits, religious scenes, and slices of life. Jeff’s favorite of the day, a portrait by Velazquez…simple brushstrokes turning red paint into silk. My favorite…a moving portrait of an elderly woman by Rembrandt.

The house itself is a work of art…inside and out. Built by Sir Robert Walpole, first prime minister to George I, the house was designed to house his impressive art collection…namely paintings by many old masters…Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Lely, Valasquz, Marillo, etc. Upon Walpole’s death, his heirs sold his large collection to agents of Catherine the Great. At the time, it created quite an uproar that this British treasure would leave the country headed to the frozen north. Now 230 yrs later, the collection has returned for a special exhibit. The paintings are hung in their original placements in rooms designed to showcase them.

The house is incredibly well maintained. The dark wood stairwell. A towering two-story main hall with statuary and carvings everywhere…the ceiling alone made us stop and sit and contemplate on four occasions. The dining room was another standout with marble-arched alcoves and a carved marble fireplace. We only saw a dozen or so rooms, but we looped twice to admire tiny details…rich tapestries, thick mahogany doors, leather bound volumes in a drool-worthy library.

It was difficult to leave, but we had more to see outside before closing. The front of the building was now warmly lit in dappled afternoon light. We walked the expansive lawn to get just the right picture spot. As the sun dipped behind looming clouds, we took a brisk walk around the grounds and eventually back into the formal gardens for one last peek. Just when we thought we had seen it all, we happened upon a tucked-away fountain with a small crowd. Just as we thought nothing was going to happen, the fountain stopped and a flame erupted in the center of the pond. Soon, a jet of water returned and carried the flame up about three feet in the air. Hard to describe. Impressive to witness. “Waterflame” by Jeppe Hein. A very fun way to cap off Houghton.

We returned to The Strattons at dusk and headed over to the lobby lounge for a pre-dinner drink of wine. Dinner was once again fantastic. English blue-cheese, pear, and almond salad…followed by pork belly with root vegetables…and delectable desserts with ice cream to finish.

When we described our day to the warm woman who brought us our wine, she summed it all up quite simply: “A fine day out.”

Indeed.

An early Saturday morning start to get us on an early train north. We hopped a short 20min taxi to the King’s Cross train station and purchased return service on the East Coast line to Peterborough. 9:30am train. Platform 1.

In no time, we left the bustle of London and found ourselves in the idyllic English countryside. The warm morning sun lit up rolling, well-tended fields, purposefully outlined by rows of trees and dotted with the occasional sheep. Rippled ponds and the occasional slow river. The occasional swan for effect. A small group of young American women on their way to Scotland charmed a local with discussions of reality shows and New Jersey politics.

We de-trained at Peterborough and took a 10 minute walk to Avis to pick up our little VW Jetta. My first time driving in England. Stay on the left! Stay in the left! Stay on the left! No problem. Saturday morning traffic backed up the round-abouts on our mostly one-laned roads, but otherwise we zipped easily through the countryside.

Our main sight for the day, the Queen’s estate at Sandringham, a stately home steeped in history but exuding the warmth of a lived-in home versus a frozen museum time capsule. We approached the house via a gentle wooded path, bordered by countless varieties of woodland flowers and shrubs. Box-trimmed hedges picked up when the forest ended as we approached the main home.

We entered–we were told–just as the royal family would into a small entryway off a large sitting room. Such a contrast to the opulence of Buckingham Palace yesterday, this home immediately felt like a place you could plop down and read a book. The home is furnished just as it is used by the Queen…minus the velvet ropes. Personal nick-nacks adorn every mantle and side table. Framed photos. Carved waterfowl. Board games. Books. Table strewn with an unfinished puzzle. The walls throughout the house are hung with cozy family portraits–primarily Queen Victoria forward–and romantic scenes of the hunt. An extensive rifle and weapon collection fills many hallways. Room after room revealed a relaxing retreat for a family of constant formality. Rather than a house to impress, it stands as a repository to all the items that generations have accumulated and obviously still carry deep sentimental attachment.

In the home’s simple ballroom, a Jubilee exhibit presented an approachable number of photographs of the Queen at various points in time since her coronation. A fascinating retrospective of events and styles and locations. According to several sources we have read this trip, the Queen is the most photographed person in history, which makes this tidy collection even more impressive!

Exiting the house, we strolled to the nearby museum, housed in the livery buildings…formerly horses, now used for cars and carriages. We stopped for a quick sandwich and cake for afternoon tea, and then perused the small museum. The exhibits focused on the history of the house through the eyes and styles of each monarch since Victoria. An impressive collection of royal cars rounded out the exhibit.

With the sun sinking lower we wandered through formal gardens, along pea-gravel paths, and beneath lines of towering trees. The warm sun lit up the red brick and warm stone of the home. A shady path wound around a tranquil pond, providing a postcard scene to end the visit. As we exited the estate, we quickly popped into the church…a tiny chapel tucked away in a clearing. The interior was simple, but meticulously decorated and lovingly cared for.

A thirty minute drive transported us to the small town of Swaffham and our evening stay at the quirky Strattons hotel. The small hotel encompasses a number of traditional English buildings, turning each interior space into a unique, contemporary room. We stayed in CoCoes #1. How appropriate.

We sat in the cozy lobby and sipped a full-bodied Spanish Tempranillo before dinner. Fittingly, dinner was as creative as our stylish hotel. Seasonal local ingredients added fresh spins to hearty English fare. Blue cheese. Pears. Norfolk crab and sea bass. Luscious pork. We finished our meal with a delicious chocolate tart with a coffee ice cream.

We retired early and enjoyed the refreshing evening breezes carrying the chilly scent of fall leaves. We slept soundly.