Yesterday I travelled 22 stops up the Piccadilly Line to meet a friend who promised a mystery tour. How mysterious. It took two bus rides to get to a lost palace.
Elsyng Palace reached its apogee in Tudor times; Henry VIII and Elizabeth I stayed but by the 1650s it was not only a ruin but the bricks etc had been re-deployed for other buildings. So little remained that the site of the palace was unknown until revealed by excavation work in the 1960s. Somehow I expect Roman villas to get lost but it’s a stretch to lose a Tudor palace.
The bricks, some of them, were used to build Forty Hall. This magnificent house was built in 1630 and deserves its Grade I listed status. The estate was once 1,800 acres but is smaller now. That there is any estate is thanks to Green Belt legislation – bravo. Nevertheless the park is well worth walking round and I was struck by its tranquility because, unlike west London, there are no ‘planes overhead. To the left of the house you will see a Cedar of Lebanon – take a closer look.
It was planted by local botanist, Dr Robert Uvedale, about 350 years ago. It makes one think that planting a tree may be a more permanent feature than building a palace. Uvedale, incidentally, is an interesting cove and his Wikipedia entry amused me but we must crack on. Rather unexpectedly we came across a vineyard, as much of a surprise to my guide as to me. It’s only thirteen miles from Trafalgar Square.
It’s never easy to identify grape varieties unless it’s autumn and then they are either red or white. However, I have the dope and they are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunière – the classic champagne cépage. This is what they produce, fully priced at £27.99.
Then we closed in on our prey, as it were; a jaunt round the very beautiful walled garden and into the house itself. Of course it is empty rooms with a few bits and bobs but the layout and plasterwork etc are of interest and the story boards are an easy way to learn about the families who lived here.
It was a fascinating visit and I might have succumbed to a pub lunch but my guide proposed walking on to Myddelton House. It is eight acres of serious garden and Andrew Parker Bowles spent his childhood here. The garden has a national collection of crocuses and irises and that’s the nub. Edward ‘Gussie’ Bowles lived here in the first half of the 20th century and devoted himself to horticulture. He was dubbed the crocus king. It is pleasing that the garden he created is so well looked after today and although it has evolved the Bowles spirit is palpable.
Fascinating what you manage to find, Christopher. And is it to Gussie Bowles that we owe the useful perennial, Bowles Mauve. It’s listed as a wallflower but (to me) it’s usefulness stems (no pun intended) from its silvery leaves and as Beth Chatto decreed, you can’t have enough silver plants in a garden.