Читать книгу Made in Great Britain - Tom Quinn - Страница 9

We fell deeply out of love with all things Victorian during the middle decades of the 20th century, and it has taken more than a century, since the death of Queen Victoria, for us to see more clearly the virtues of the late Victorian period. One of the very best examples of unspoiled high Victorian architecture is Lanhydrock, which lies hidden away in the remote Fowey Valley surrounded by 365ha (900 acres) of ancient parkland.

Parts of the house, most notably the gatehouse and north wing, are 17th century but the rest was rebuilt, with no expense spared, in 1881, after a fire destroyed much of the original structure. Even the central heating is Victorian! The gardens in summer are a delight, with their superb collections of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. You could spend days wandering the miles of footpaths that cross the estate, through which the river Fowey runs.

Originally built by Sir Richard Robartes in 1620, the house gradually decayed over the following centuries until the Victorian Lord Robartes returned from London to the house of his ancestors and set about rebuilding. Twenty years after the celebrated architect George Gilbert Scott (famous for renovating medieval churches) rebuilt the house, it burnt down. Richard Coad, a local architect, then rebuilt it, and the house we see today is substantially as he left it. A hidden gem.

SECRETS

LANHYDROCK, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 5AD (). 01208 265950.

Open: Garden 10.00–18.00. House Tues–Sun Mar–early Nov 11.00–17.30. Check website for latest house and garden opening details. Price: House and garden: adult £11.80, child £5.90, family £29.50,. Garden and grounds: adult £7, child £3.80.

While you’re there

Visit TRERICE, Kestle Mill, near Newquay, Cornwall (nationaltrust.org.uk). An unbelievably beautiful and little-known Elizabethan gem of a house.

Secret place to stay

BOSCUNDLE MANOR, Boscundle (boscundlemanor.co.uk). Pretty, privately run hotel in 2ha (5 acres) of grounds. Just 1 mile from Cornwall’s famous Eden project.

The splendid gatehouse at Lanhydrock.