Marble Hill House, England - a Stately Home I could happily live in

 Over the years I have visited a number of stately homes in England, most of them huge and many of them beautiful but overly grandiose, however I have never felt that I would be comfortable living in any of them.  That was until I visited Marble Hill House in Twickenham. Not only does it have an idyllic setting right beside the river Thames but it is also comparatively modest in scale and has a cosy comfortable feeling about it. 

The house was built by Henrietta Howard, a woman with a colourful history, who wanted a quiet country retreat from the court of George II. For many years Henrietta had been not only George's live in mistress but also the personal servant of his wife Caroline, a tricky situation requiring a lot of tact.  Henrietta had been left as an orphan by the age of twelve and  later made a disastrous marriage to a violent, gambler.  Joining the court became a safe refuge for her.  It was King George who gave her the funds to buy off her husband and to build Marble Hill house. 

Built in the Neo-Palladian style in the 1720s, the house is a rare example of a house built for, and by, a woman in Georgian England. It was here that Henrietta could relax and enjoy the company of genuine friends.  She became the queen of the 'Twickenham Set' which included Alexander Pope, Horace Walpole, Jonathan Swift, and John Gay, all literary men, plus a number of politicians. She was a patron of the arts and an enthusiastic hostess despite a life long hearing disability.    I can imagine some lively evenings in the beautiful dining and drawing rooms at Marble Hill.

 Alexander Pope said of Henrietta ' I know a reasonable woman, handsome and witty, yet a friend"

Eventually King George moved on to a new mistress and after the death of her first husband Henrietta was free to marry again. Her second marriage was a very happy one.

My son and his wife had lived for a time right opposite the house but it had not been open to the public during a lengthy restoration so I jumped at the chance to visit it on my recent trip. Set in 60 acres and well back from the road  it is an elegant, perfectly proportioned building. The rooms are of a pleasing size, no great ballrooms or overly flamboyant galleries etc and the decor is of its time and appropriate to the house. 

I love this wall paper in the small dining room

Guides are positioned in every room and are enthusiastic and happy to talk about the history and life of the house. As far as stately homes go it is small and doesn't take long to tour but I loved it.  I felt I could happily live there, something  I have never felt in a stately home before.

The Great Hall (photo by English Heritage)

After touring the house I walked in the grounds.  The old orchard and gardens are being restored with plantings likely used in the original gardens and the huge ice house is worth seeing.  The grounds are peaceful so I sat for a while enjoying the view of the river and imagining how much Henrietta would have enjoyed this idyllic location, in the company of her friends, away from the gossip, intrigue and stiffness of the court of King George.

The restored gardens (photo by English Heritage)

Included in the 60 acres surrounding the house are rugby, cricket, and hockey grounds, tennis courts and a children's play area.  There is also a cafe in the old coach house. The estate is well used and much loved by the residents of Twickenham.  Henrietta would be surprised, and no doubt delighted, by her legacy.

The house is located on Richmond Rd, St Margaret's area.

Open Wednesday to Sunday April to October. Admission is free but you are required to buy a guide to the house at a very minimal cost.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London

 The great thing about London is that no matter how many times you visit there is always something to see that you haven't seen before. Writer, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), famously said "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life".  Nothing could be truer,  London always delights. On my many visits to London I had never taken a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, sure, I'd walked past it often enough but there always seemed to be hordes of tourists or school children lining up for a visit so I would just keep walking.  Anyway, this visit I decided I just had to take a tour, it had been tantalising me for too long.

 

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, South Bank London
(photo by Diego Delso, delso.photo, license CC-BY-SA)

The  Theatre is the brainchild of American actor and director, Sam Wanamaker who had a dream of recreating the original Globe of 1599, close to its original site and as it was in Shakespeare's day. After finding the original site of the Globe theatre neglected and marked only by a blackened plaque, recreating the Globe became an obsession for Wanamaker. The original globe had burnt down in 1612 when a stage effect went wrong and set the thatched roof alight.  The theatre was rebuilt in 1614 but was closed down in 1642 by the Puritans, who thought plays were the devil's work.

 In 1970 Wanamaker founded the Shakespeare Global Trust with the aim of achieving his dream.  It took 27 years with the Theatre eventually opening in 1997. Sadly he died in 1993 without seeing the theatre completed.  Wanamaker's goal of reconstructing the theatre as near as possible to the original wasn't an easy task since there were no remaining plans or contracts, however, luckily there were some contemporary drawings and accounts of what the theatre was like. Other surviving buildings of the late 16th and early 17th century were studied, including the building contract for the Fortune Playhouse.  He also had to battle with the local council who wanted to build an apartment block on the site.  Despite all the barriers put in the way the result is believed to be realistic even accounting for the need to ensure modern safety requirements. 

Since a play was in rehearsal we were not permitted to photograph the stage
This photo is of an earlier production - note the groundlings (Jack1956)

Although the recreated Globe theatre caters for audiences about half the size of those in Shakespeare's day it is as authentic as possible. It is built entirely of English oak with simple benches in galleries for seating, and an open to the sky pit for 'Groundlings' (those who stand to watch a play), which is now concreted but would originally have been earth strewn with straw. The Theatre also has the only thatched roof permitted in London since the Great Fire of London of 1666, albeit with special fire retardants and sprinklers.  There is a modern lobby, restaurant, gift shop and visitors' centre and an adjoining  smaller theatre, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse which is modelled in Jacobean era style and used in the winter months.  

I found the tour completely absorbing.  The guide was excellent, describing London of the 1500s and 1600s vividly.  Acting and play performances were then regarded as rather suspect, and not seemly, so the playhouses were located on the South Bank away from the more 'decent' people of London on the other side of the Thames.  Despite this plays drew huge crowds from all walks of life and the audience could be rowdy and raucous even to the point of throwing fruit and eggs at the actors.  Beer was also consumed in large quantities during the play and with personal hygiene not being the best back then the groundlings, who paid 1 penny for a ticket, would be labeled 'stinkards' for obvious reasons. Shakespeare was a 12.5% shareholder in the theatre and due to its great popularity during its heyday this afforded him a comfortable income. The crest above the main entrance, written in Latin, translated to "The whole world is a playhouse"

Fortunately there were no stinkards around for my visit and we were lucky enough to sit in on a rehearsal for the upcoming play, I Joan, about Joan of Arc.  It was fascinating watching the actors and directors at work and to see how the theatre operates.  I thought the theatre was very beautiful and felt as if I had been transported back in time.  You do not have to be a fan of Shakespeare to enjoy a visit to this wonderful theatre, it is a glimpse back into times past and an opportunity to admire outstanding craftsmanship. I'm so pleased I finally visited Shakespeare's Globe and as luck would have it there were no school groups or hordes of tourists on the day of my tour.

As an aside, one of the best books I have read in a long time is Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.  It is a fictionalised account of Shakespeare's life and times. I found it utterly absorbing.  Highly recommended.

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