Jan & John Maggs
Antiques and Art
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Exploring historic English properties - Our 2024 National Trust Odyssey
Part V - The Cotswolds
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We woke on Monday and ate a simple breakfast in our room at the Burford Travelodge, which has been our base during the past three decades of visiting the Cotswolds. We drove north to Stow-on-the-Wold and one of our favorite shops in all of England, Durham House Antiques, where we were greeted like royalty by our friends Jane, the shop owner, and Natasha, whose cabinet is a high point of the shop. We enjoyed more than an hour of shopping and conversation and, by the time we departed had assembled a nice little pile of antiques. We left the shop and walked up the street to Tudor House, where we added to the day's bounty. We purchased a MealDeal at Tesco and, after lunch in the car park, drove to Chipping Norton, where we shopped at Station Mill Antiques, another regular stop on our Cotswolds visits, and then picked up shipping boxes at the local DHL Express Service point. We returned to Burford, where we cataloged and photographed the day's purchases and began packing them for shipment to Conway. It had been a long day, and we were grateful to have a rather good pub, The Prince of Burford, just on the other side of the A40. We crossed the busy highway and ended our day with a delicious supper.
We woke early on Tuesday morning and drove to Leominster, which has always been an excellent source of new stock. On this visit we did, indeed, see several excellent and affordable pieces of furniture, but we had decided, after the ever-increasing cost of shipping of recent years, that we would not purchase anything we couldn't ship ourselves. Sadly, we left Leominster with only a few minor purchases.
Stopping only for another MealDeal en route, we returned to the Cotswolds for our first National Trust destination of the trip: Snowshill Manor.
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17. Snowshill Manor
Charles Paget Wade, architect, designer, and
- above all - collector, purchased Snowshill in 1919 to house his
extraordinary collection of objects sharing
one common thread: the beauty that inspired his collecting. So extensive was
his collection and so committed was Wade to displaying his pieces in large
groupings, that he ultimately moved his living quarters to a smaller
structure on the property, the Priest's House from nearby Winchcombe Abbey. We entered
Snowshill through this lovely walled garden.
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Grannie's Cabinet.
The young Charles was allowed to stand on a chair to view the collection that inspired his lifelong passion.
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Wade's love of Asian design is reflected is groupings like this one throughout the manor.
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Self-portrait of the artist as writer by Belgian painter Franz Meerts
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One of several suits of Samurai armor collected by Wade, displayed as if in combat in the Green Room
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Wade's vast collection of bicycles and prams fill this room on the top floor.
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A French crucifix
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One concession to Wade's presence in the manor - his "office" on a stair landing.
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The vaulted ceiling of the Priest's House - Wade's home
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Another part of Wade's residence in the Priest's House
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We left Snowshill and returned to Burford and finished packing our shipment. Once packed and sealed, we undertook the nearly impossible task of preparing our international shipping documents online. When we felt that we were prepared for tomorrow morning's DHL drop-off, we drove to nearby Fulbrook, where we enjoyed a delicious, beautifully presented dinner at The Carpenter’s Arms.
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Our agenda for Wednesday began with a drive to Chipping Norton, where we would drop off our compact shipment to DHL. From there, if all went well, was to visit Chastleton House, near Moreton-in-Marsh, our National Trust property for the day. We left our Travelodge and drove north, down Burford's spectacular High Street.
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It was a brilliant morning, with billowing clouds under the blue sky above. As we neared Chastleton, we spotted a few cars parked in a roadside layby and, assuming that they had stopped to view and photograph the sky, we decided to join them. Only after we had gotten out of the car did we realize that we had stumbled upon a stunning archaeological site and a local treasure: The Rollright Stones.
18. The Rollright Stones
Postings on the site informed us that we were at an ancient ceremonial site, which is comprised of three stone monuments. The oldest part of the site dates from c. 3800 B.C, making the site about half a century older than Stonehenge. Although the requested admission charge of 2 pounds each (Please use money box on nearby post!) was not covered by our Royal Oak Society membership, we decided to splurge.
A closer view of The King's Men Stone Circle, dating from about 2500 B.C.
The Whispering Knights burial chamber was probably built by area farmers around 4000 B.C.
It probably originated as a chamber in which human remains would have been deposited.
The King Stone
A standing stone, erected ca. 1500 b.c.
We were to learn that many local residents are unaware of this monument. We had the great fortune to happen upon it, five miles from our next Trust visit.
We resumed our drive to Chastleton House, and arrived at this remarkable house only five minutes later.
19. Chastleton House
Chastleton House was built for the wealthy cloth merchant Walter Jones between 1607 and 1612 and remained in the Jones family until 1991, when it was first placed on the market. As it was, essentially, the home of the Jones family for nearly four centuries, it remained in a "suspended state" until its acquisition by the Trust. Barbara Clutton-Brock, the last owner of Chastleton, often said that "poverty is a great preservative." The National Trust seized upon this fact and decided to preserve, rather than restore. In 1991 Martin Drury, a former director of the Trust wrote, "Our aim is to lay as light a hand as possible on Chastleton, to arrest 150 years of progressive decay with an almost imperceptible tightening of the reins." Consequently, Chastleton today provides a journey through centuries, reflecting the gently changing lifestyles of its residents and retaining much of the earliest history of this family home.
A large 17th-century four-paneled coffer
A 17th-century refectory table, as it might have been set in the 1800's
Three of the many wainscot armchairs that once gave comfort to guests of the Jones family
One of the bedrooms - a mix of Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian
Another bedroom and its lavishly carved bed
The impressive long gallery, with its plaster barrel-vaulted ceiling
In the long gallery
Although perhaps a Victorian addition, this oversized toy horse affirms the recreational function of the long gallery.
Try to imagine the racket caused by the long wooden board clattering along the rough floorboards.
After checking in at The Star in Thrussington, we drove to Hoby for dinner at The Blue Bell, the village's local pub where over the years we have enjoyed scores of delicious meals and hours of good company. Michael and Donna were both on duty, and we enjoyed conversation before and after the delicious meal pictured below.
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After dinner, we exchanged goodbyes and returned to Thrussington and our room at The Star.
Tomorrow we would interrupt our holiday and shop at the sprawling Hemswell Antiques Centre.
Good night for now.
CLICK HERE for Part VI - Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Essex
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Click HERE to visit the J&J Maggs Antiques home page.