After visiting this House I somehow don’t think I need bother for awhile!
Followers will know that Calke Abbey, one of England’s very old Family Estates features regularly on this blog. It is usually the Parklands, woods, the extended estate and stable blocks that I have shared with you…often promising to take you inside this very unique House.
Once the home for many centuries of the Harpur Crewe Family the house and estate passed to the National Trust to help settle Death Duties when the last owner of the House died. The Trust describe it both as a very Un-Stately Home and as a Time Capsule.
The House and its contents is a real treasure trove containing just about everything the family collected in travels and local exploration over the centuries. In truth I suspect that the National Trust were so overwhelmed with what they inherited that the decision to leave everything as it was left, was the wise decision.
It was once a very grand family house and much of that Grandeur is still very visible. But so are all the unique quirks of this, some would say, eccentric family. So join us on a mini tour of some of the many rooms, enjoy the peeling wallpaper, cracked ceilings, falling plaster work, the haphazard collections, the once quiet spaces, the Servants Quarters, Kitchens and Brew House….and if you are ever in Derbyshire, place Calke Abbey high on your to-do-list…
Reflecting on all that has been collected that famous motto “Waste Not Want Not” displayed here in the kitchen is so appropriate…
Calke Abbey…..A place where time really does stand still…
8th April
(C) David Oakes 2018
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 