A Different Big Ben Tower?! Somerleyton Hall

(photo credit: By Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0, https///commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14253512)

The first time I came across Somerleyton was when I watched a Most Haunted episode numerous years ago and they investigated the Hall. Having recently re-watched the episode I thought a blog post about the Hall would be interesting as one of the Hall's architectural features could have ended up atop one of London's greatest landmarks . . .

The ground itself where Somerleyton Hall now stands has had some form of homestead on its site since the Viking period. The first country mansion appeared in the Tudor period and was built by the Jernigan family who, being Catholic and fearing persecution in the reign of Elizabeth I emigrated to America. The house then passed through various families but by the middle 1800’s the house was purchased by the Victorian engineer Sir Samuel Morton Peto who spent much of his well-earned money turning Somerleyton into the mansion we see today.

(photo credit: Wikimedia)

Morton Peto had amassed his wealth through his management of the construction firm Grissell and Peto, a company he ran with his cousin, which built some of the most notable British buildings and monuments in London such as Nelson’s Column, the Houses of Parliament and the vast brick sewer system which was a major feat of Victorian engineering by Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

He also submitted a design for the Bell Tower at the top of the Elizabeth Tower (commonly referred to as Big Ben) but it was considered too elaborate and so was rejected. Instead Peto had the design made up at Somerleyton as a clock tower for the mansion and can still be seen by visitors to this day. Whilst this is a beautiful design and it fits in perfectly with Somerleyton I just cannot picture it sitting above the Elizabeth Tower and housing Big Ben, can you? 

(Both Photo's Credited to: Evelyn Simak [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http///creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

The house itself is supposedly very haunted indeed with one room in the attics being so haunted that it was closed and locked for over fifty years - that is until they were offered a large amount of money from Most Haunted to investigate and then apparently they had no problems opening the room up. . . sorry my cynical head is coming out there!

Sadly Peto's career ended with bankruptcy after a couple of investments went wrong and he had to sell Somerleyton to a Yorkshire family, the Crossley's of Halifax (shout out to Yorkshiremen 'done good!). The family still live at Somerleyton today and the house can be visited on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from April to September. 

This house is definitely going on my 'houses I want to visit' list for when I am next in the area! Have you visited? If so let me know what you think in the comments!

Thanks for reading! 

Yvoire Medieval Village and Chateau

(Photo credit: http://www.yvoire-france.com)

Last weekend I visited Yvoire with Tom. It sits about an hour from Geneva on the south side of Lac Leman and is a small 14th century walled medieval village. I had looked at it before online and my friend Becca had said that it was beautiful so it was high on my list of places to visit. You could take a boat to Yvoire from Nyon which is on the North side of the lake and just half an hours drive from our home, but the boat costs almost 30CHF per person and so it's not really an affordable short cut to driving; also Tom has been saying for a while that he wanted to drive to the other side of the lake and explore there.

So on Sunday lunchtime last week we decided to drive from Nyon along the lake to Geneva, drive through Geneva and then drive along the other side of the lake to Yvoire to explore what was there.

An hour and a half later we pulled into a carpark and got ourselves a ticket. Because Yvoire is a protected medieval village, vehicles are not permitted and so you have to park in the car park and walk to the village. It's only a couple of minutes walk so it wasn't a problem. I did wonder where the money from the carpark went though . . . does it go towards restoration of the village or is it a government carpark? Without further research I don't know but it's an interesting question.

We walked from the car and I was instantly blown away. Even from the outside, this medieval village has a quaint, Lord of the Rings beauty that captures the imagination. The outer walls of the village are made up of houses and buildings so it doesn't look imposing and the moat which originally ran around the outside of the town has been filled in and is now a small road, yet the stone gateway with it's clear markings from a previous portcullis remind you that it must at one time have been a well fortified location.

We walked under the gate way and down what I assume was once the high street. Now, it was a Sunday afternoon so it was very busy with visitors, not something I usually like, so I was keen to find a quiet spot. I fancied a glass of wine so I asked Tom if we could go somewhere for a bite to eat. He replied "I need a cash machine" . . . unsurprisingly there wasn't a 'medieval cash machine' at Yvoire so that brought an end to that plan. By this point it was after 3pm and we were aware of the light fading. I didn't fancy going home in the dark so we decided to walk around and see what the village offered and then we would go home, planning to come back another time.

There was a beautiful Chateau right on the lake and whilst I tried to do some research into who owned it, I struggled. Still sometimes that makes it even better as I can use my imagination instead!

So Yvoire is definitely somewhere we will be returning to, but in the meantime here are some pictures I took of the place so you get an idea what it's like:

(these three photographs are copyright of the author, Charlotte Furness)

3 Films That Inspired My Love of Architecture

As I am spending more time writing about country houses and large estates, I am realising how long I have had an interest in these types of houses and buildings. I recently watched ‘The Secret Garden’ which is still one of my favourite films and whilst I was watching the film I realised that it is the house that I love as much as the storyline. This made me wonder if there were other films from my childhood and teens which I liked because they featured a large house or hall . . . there were three that vibrantly stood out and so I thought I would share them with you.

1) The Secret Garden

I am referring here to the 1993 version featuring Kate Maberly. I loved the interior of ‘Mistlethwaite Manor’ where the Mary Lennox comes to live. My favourite line in the film is “the house seemed dead, as though a spell had been cast upon it”

photo credit: beautydart.blogspot.com

This must have been part of the attraction for me as that is my favourite part of the film. Some of the interiors were filmed on location – the most fascinating for me is the grand staircase at Mistlethwaite which is actually at St Pancras Chambers. At the time of filming, the building was closed and was not being used and so it’s possible that the run down look of the staircase in the film is what it looked like in real life – a far cry from the opulent luxury you will see if you visit the hotel today.

Unfortunately other parts of the interiors were created at Pinewood Studios, but the exterior shots were all from real locations; for example the Gothic exterior of the Hall was filmed at Allerton Castle in Yorkshire and Fountains Hall in Yorkshire. The scene where Mary is sent out into the gardens for the first time combines both of these properties – Mary leaves Fountains Hall but then as she walks across the lawn with the house in the background, we see Allerton Castle.

photo credit: silverpeticoatreview.com

2) Casper

Released in 1995 and starring Christina Ricci, this was one of my favourite films as a young teenager, and whilst I loved the main character Kat, I also definitely loved this film because of the house. Unfortunately, I think all of the interior of the House was built and filmed within a studio, which means I will never be able to visit it, or buy it which was one of my ambitions as a child; however, it does still exist as a fictional mansion and so I am including it in this list as it still inspired my passion in architecture and country houses.

photo credit for both images: The Casper Portal

I loved every room which we see in the film from the dusty attic room, to Kat’s bedroom to the Victorian study and again I used to really wish that I could jump into the film and explore the mansion.

3) Ever After

This 1998 movie starring Drew Barrymore is a Cinderella-style story set in the 16th century in France. Drew Barrymore plays the Cinderella role of Danielle and she falls in love with the handsome Prince Henry played by Dougray Scott. It follows the story of Cinderella quite well but with lots of really great additions to make it into a great movie.

There are so many things I love about this film – Danielle reads Utopia by Thomas More, one of my favourite books; Da Vinci is a character in the film; one of my all-time favourite quotes is in this film: “a bird may love a fish signor, but where will they live?”

But the part of this film that I really love is the architecture that features in it. My particular favourite is when Danielle and Henry visit the monastery and look at the monks’ library and they talk on the stairs with the old books around her. I cannot tell you how much I would love to be able to step through the television screen and explore that monastery!

photo credit: pinterest.com

I also love the chateau that Danielle lives at with her family it's beautiful and exactly what I would imagine a fantasy chateau to be like. Don't get me wrong I am aware of all the blatant historical inaccuracies in this film but I love it too much to care!

The exterior of the De Barbarac house is actually the Château de Fénelon, Dordogne, Aquitaine in France. I am so excited that this is a real place – I may have to visit whilst I am living in France . . .

photo credit: notrepetiteplanete

These are just three country houses that I used to love watching over and over again, for the storyline but also for the architectural buildings included in them. If there are any films that you love with country houses in them please do let me know as I would love to watch more!