Despite having visited lots of country houses and estates, there are still a number of halls and houses that I really want to visit. I thought I would make a list of my top 5 here for you:
Hever Castle, Kent
(image courtesy of hever.co.uk)
Childhood home of the Boleyn family, anyone who knows me well will not be surprised that this is the first house on my list. I have been a huge fan of Philippa Gregory for over 11 years and her novel The Other Boleyn Girl is one of my favourite books. I even wrote my undergraduate dissertation for my English degree on the novels of Philippa Gregory, investigating the re-representation of historical female figures in modern historical fiction. I loved the topic that much that I actually finished writing my dissertation a whole month before the deadline!
Hever features heavily as a location in The Other Boleyn Girl and so I would love to visit and try to see the house through Mary Boleyn's eyes.
Highclere Castle, Berkshire
(photo courtesy of Visit Britain)
Setting for the world famous Downton Abbey, this is one house that I am dying to visit but at the same time I almost don't want to visit because I am sure it is probably one of the busiest stately homes in the country at the moment! I don't like to be pushed around a country house either as part of a group or in a long line where you just shuffle from room to room - I like to spend time moving from one room to another, knowing that I would like to stay in one room for longer if there is something there that I would particularly want to look at.
The book that I am currently writing for Pen and Sword Books features a character from Highclere Castle and so I will be visiting the house soon anyway so that I can learn more about my character and get a feel for the place. I will do a post about my visit once I have been.
Woodchester Mansion, Gloucestershire
(photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)
This terrifying Gothic mansion lies in the Gloucestershire countryside but despite its grandiose size, it was never completed. One day in 1873 the workers at Woodchester Mansion put down their tools and left the house, refusing to continue building work. Since then despite several attempts, the house has never been finished. It is now rife with stories of the paranormal and plays hosts to several ghost hunting events per year.
I would like to visit this house purely for architectural reasons as there is no other example of a house dating from almost 150 years ago where it is possible to be able to see the building methods involved. Most houses of this size and date are either finished and therefore visitors can only see the architecture from the outside, or they have been pulled down and so we can only see images of what once stood. Woodchester allows us to see the internal architecture of the house - there are passages which lead to nowhere and doorways that lead into mid air - it is definitely a house I need to visit soon!
Alnwick Castle, Northumberland
(photo courtesy of Trip Advisor)
Film location for Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, Alnwick Castle has been on my 'to visit' list for years. My mum has been and said it's absolutely beautiful. It is overseen by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland who has had a huge hand in the development of the attractions in the gardens of the estate. It features unique attractions such as a poison garden, the treehouse and a waterfall to rival Chatsworth. One thing I love about how the house and gardens are managed is that they actually treat them as separate attractions and the castle and gardens both have separate websites. The gardens website focuses on the different areas to see, events that are on etc. and the castle website focuses on the Harry Potter connection, the exhibitions and interiors as well as events to do with the history of the castle. I also think the exterior of the castle is one of my favourite - the gothic fairytale style is my favourite style of stately home architecture.
Hampton Court Palace, Richmond upon Thames
(photo courtesy of hrp.org.uk)
Hampton Court Palace was originally the home of Cardinal Wolsey. It has been remodelled and added to by Henry VIII, William III and Mary II to give one of the most beautiful and eclectically designed estates in the country. It is also one of the largest with a number of internal courtyards and wings. I love looking at floorplans for country houses as it helps me to envisage how people lived within them and also I just love architecture. However looking at floorplans of Hampton Court just blows my mind as it is so large!
I am hoping to visit some of these houses in the next few weeks so if I do I will be sure to take some great pictures and do a follow up blog post for you!
Let me know if you've visited any of these and what you thought of them!
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