Buckinghamshire: A Visit to Charming Ascott House

Ascott House is a hard place to categorize. Technically it isn't an art museum, it is a family home, but the quality of the art and furniture collection certainly ranks it with many art museums.



The original farmhouse was purchased by Mayer de Rothschild in 1873. In 1874 Leopold de Rothschild took it over as a hunting box and converted it from a Jacobean farmhouse into a mock Tutor mansion. Extensive formal gardens offer a place to wander but for me, the main draw was the lovely art collection.

I fell in love with the portrait of a dreamy looking woman. She has a faraway ethereal look also in the Hall are a Gainsborough, a Reynolds and a Stubbs.

In the Dining Room is an outstanding Dutch painting by Cuyp "Dordrect on the Maas". The whole dining room is filled with Dutch paintings. One small one is very nice, Itinerant Musicians by Jan Steen. To complement the art collections is classic French and Chippendale furniture. The Library is dominated by a full-length portrait of the Duchess of Richmond by Gainsborough which it turns out isn't really the Duchess of Richmond.

For the lover of Chinese porcelain, shelves in the Porcelain Room which resemble bamboo are filled with pieces from the Ming and K'ang Hsi dynasty in China. Anthony de Rothschild’s collection of over 400 pieces was given to the National Trust in 1949. A wonderful painting of the Virgin and Child with St John by Andrea del Sarto is also in the Porcelain Room.

All of this is placed in only 5 or 6 rooms mixed with comfortable sofas, bright cushions, and family pictures. Ascott House is the best of both worlds; part decorative arts museum, part family home. We were lucky to have been able to visit here. They are open from late March until mid-September Tuesday -Sunday and bank holiday Mondays. Visits are in the afternoons only 2-5 p.m. They didn't have a guidebook. when we visited. That is very frustrating for visitors.

The gardens are quite lovely and can be visited for a lower rate than the house if you want to just enjoy them. A variety of different types of gardens some formal and some allowed to grow more naturally are offered. The views are quite superb and the gardens are very highly regarded.

It is quite a long walk from the parking lot to the house. If you are either a garden or an art lover, this is a great house to visit. Managed by the National Trust, Ascott House has recently added a tea room at the Cricket Pavilion. Entrance is £10 for the house and garden and must be paid in cash.

Oxfordshire: A morning in Thame

We spent the morning in the lovely village of Thame browsing through the Farm Market and also through some of the small shops in town.

Tuesday is market day in Thame and the on-street parking was all taken by the time we arrived. It looked like everyone from miles around was heading there. There are several parking lots around town so don't worry about where to park. The Farm Market is a combination Flea Market and Produce Market. We started out by buying some jars of jam from one of the ladies. It was all delicious looking and some odd combinations of fruit that you can't find at home. We especially love gooseberry and also rhubarb mixed with just about any other fruit.

I bought myself a container of fresh raspberries to have for lunch and had to wait for the local ladies as they bought their produce for the week. The usual flea market things were for sale, tools, cheap luggage (which we later wish we had bought) and some very strange things like pigs ears dried I assume as a chewy for your dog???

In a wonderful little alley-way called Swan Walk where we found a small jewelry shop. Joe bought a watch and I have to admit I give in to temptation and bought a peridot ring with 10-carat gold which ended up costing only $74. The owners were very friendly and they sized the ring within 10 minutes for free.

Thame is a very pretty little town and I'm sure that it is very like many others in the area. I also bought a Lilliput in another cute little shop we found. It is a very relaxing and fun way to get to meet some locals and to just watch them go about their usual business.

Berkshire: A visit to Basildon Park

When the Lord and Lady Iliffe bought Basildon in 1952 it was what you would call a fixer-upper. It had not been occupied except by troops in the 2 World Wars since 1910. It began its life in the 1770's. It is a Paladian House built of Bath stone, designed by John Carr for Sir Francis Sykes. He was from Yorkshire and had made his money in the East India Company.

We began our visit with lunch in their restaurant. Leek, ham and potato pie and vegetable soup followed by cake. I tried the lemonade again, another mistake but the cake with coffee frosting and walnuts was delicious.

Basildon has very much the look of a family home. The Library looks well worn with floral couch covers and red walls. There is a table full of family pictures. I particularly liked the mirror over the fireplace and I took a picture of it. It is gilt in a fan design with gilt swags.

Off the other side of the Entrance Hall is a room with Graham Sutherland's sketches of the tapestry at Coventry Cathedral, in this room also are the chair that Lord and Lady Iliffe sat on at the coronation.

The walls in the Entrance Way and the Grand Staircase look like Wedgewood Jasperware with a medallion and a griffin.

The dining room has a table set for 14 with pale green walls and jasperware panels. It also has a lovely ceiling with gilt and plaster. The original fireplace in this room went to the Waldorf in London.

Not much is original to the house but there is some Chinese porcelain that is original. It took 2 years to make the familial rose with crest. It had been sold but Lady Iliffe and the National Trust together bought it back.

The Octagon Room has 7 of Batoni's Apostles. It has 2 large mirrors that make the room look even larger than it is. The Green Drawing Room has 2 very interesting Imari bowls and 2 etchings of Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV.

We also visited several bedrooms including Lady Iliffe's which has a canopy that hangs from the ceiling making a bed alcove.

The Chintz Room was closed the day we were there because of a lack of volunteers.

The house has an interesting National Trust Gift Shop. I bought my grandson a piece of Fools Gold which he loved.

Basildon Park
Rt A239
Oxfordshire, England

Oxfordshire: The charms of Buscot House

Buscot House is a Neoclassical house designed by Edward Townsend in the 1780's.  Two porphyry scagliola pillars date from that period. The rest of the interior design dates mostly from the time of the second Baron Faringdon. The House came into the Faringdon family in 1889. In 1962 the House passed to the National Trust.

The Dutch Room is of particular note. It has gorgeous green wallpaper and a plaster ceiling and frieze in the Adams style. The room includes a beautiful Rembrandt of a young blond man and a Van Dyke. There is also a Rubens of Marchesa Veronica Spinola Doria. The furniture in the room is a combination of Sheridan and Chippendale, the mantle is early 19th century with marble carved with fans and urns. A Sheridan satinwood fire screen finishes off the fireplace and in that beautiful ceiling, they have introduced recessed lighting without spoiling the look.

The dining room is magnificent with red wallpaper and a mahogany table and leather-covered chairs. There is Imari and Ch'ien Lung porcelain and also some 18th-century Chinese import bearing the arms of Stephen Sullivan, an ancestor of Lord Faringdon. The chimneypiece has a central plaque of Diana which was bought from a demolished London mansion. The leather dining chairs are from Clumber Park, the former seat of the Duke of Newcastle demolished in 1938.

One nice thing about Buscot is that even though they don't have a headphone tour they provide you with wooden tablets to read in each room.

The saloon is all gold, with a hint of pink in the furniture. It is a perfect backdrop for the Legend of Briar Rose Panels that cover the wall. It is really quite extraordinary, the ceiling has a fan design in the corners and a medallion in the center.

The drawing room has a very pretty case with miniatures, boxes, a watch and a bracelet. A collection of majolica adorns a table in the center of the room. A very pretty 18th-century longcase clock with floral marquetry in the hall adds a charming effect.

The Normanton room is mostly made up of paintings by living artists. Three windows look out toward the fountain; it is a light airy room with a carpet with a vine pattern. A spooky 18th-century state bed and an Italian or French Chausible are on display. A room of contrasts.

This is an interesting house with a good variety of items to view. Check opening times before you visit as they are limited. Closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Oxfordshire: The Ashmolean Museum

If I had to say what kind of museum the Ashmolean is I would reply an art, history, and science museum.  This is a repository of an eclectic collection of items.

In Room 2 the Minster Lovell Jewel is a superb example of 9th-century craftsmanship and a rare example of enameling from this period. Also in the same room, there are some beautiful examples of Anglo Saxon gold work as well as a magnificent Limoges Reliquary of St Thomas Becket.

Among the oddities of this museum are the death mask of Oliver Cromwell and a pair of gloves presented to Queen Elizabeth I which are obviously too big to have ever fit her hands.

As an American, I found Powhatan's mantle of particular interest. He was Pocahontas' father.

One of the treasures of the Ashmolean is the Alfred Jewel. It is in a case by itself. It is made of gold and cloisonne enamel covered in rock crystal. Written on it is "Alfred ordered me to be made".

Rooms are filled with a wonderful collection of clocks, some shaped like a cross, one made of shells. Cases of rings done in sections by purpose, betrothal, ecclesiastic, etc. dazzle the eye.

I loved the collection of Italian ceramic plates from the 15th century. Lots of blues and yellows with religious and mythological scenes. Among the art on display are 2 Van Dykes, one of Queen Henrietta Maria and an Allan Ramsey of Flora McDonald. Also on display were some exquisite Raphael drawings.

For lovers of Egyptology, there are wall fragments from El Amarna the home of Tuttenkhaman's father Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, it shows 2 daughters Neferure and Nefernefeuaten.

The Ashmolean is open Tuesday-Sunday. They have a great cafe and a wonderful and extensive gift shop. Parking in Oxford can be a problem which is why we came in on Sunday. Another option is the commuter parking lots outside the city. There is no entrance fee.

Ashmolean Museum

Beaumont Street

Oxfordshire, England

Oxfordshire: Minster Lovell Hall

The original name of the village was Minster which is taken from the Latin word for church. The Lovell was attached late in the 13th century to distinguish it from the adjacent manor of Little Minister which belonged to the Earl of Pembroke. When the Lovell family came into possession of the Hall is not certain but it was in the possession of the family in 1184. Minster was not the Lovell family's principal seat until the middle of the 14th century when it became a regular residence.

The mansion was most likely built between 1431 and 1442. There are licenses granted during this period to Sir William Lovell to impark a parcel of land called Minsterwoods adjacent to his manor at Minster Lovell. The fact that he was making a park may indicate that he was enlarging his home.

The last and most famous of the Lovells was Francis, Viscount Lovell a close friend of King Richard III. He fought with him at Bosworth Field and after Richard's defeat, he escaped to Flanders. He returned 2 years later to take part in Lambert Simnel's Rebellion. 

He is generally thought to have died at the Battle of Stoke but there is a story from the 1700s when the Duke of Rutland is quoted as saying Minster Lovell Hall was having a repair done to a chimney when they came across a hidden room in which sat the entire skeleton of a man dressed in the period of Richard III. 

Did Lord Francis come to a sad end? No one will ever know. I looked at the chimney area over quite carefully and could see no evidence of a room.

Today Minster Lovell Hall is a beautiful and romantic ruin set in the Oxfordshire countryside. No entrance is charged to walk among the remains. It is sad that it was let go and yet it is much more interesting in its own way than just another country home.

As we walked through the walls we could hear the doves cooing from the round dovecote on the property. It was a haunting sound.

The property was purchased by Edward Coke and there is reason to believe he resided there. Thomas Coke even spent his honeymoon here. After Holkham was completed parts of it were demolished and the stones quarried, the rest was just abandoned. Today it belongs to English Heritage. Entrance is free and parking is at the beginning of the road beyond the church.

The Church or Minster is dedicated to St Kenelm and quite interesting in its own right. It is over 500 years old and has a very interesting effigy of a Knight on a grave which I assume is one of the Lovells. There is also a 15th-century baptismal font. I spent some time in the churchyard reading the tombstones, always an interesting pastime.

When it comes to ruins, this is a lovely one and I highly recommend a visit. 

Northamptonshire: Eleanor Cross Geddington

Eleanor Cross

One of the great love stories of medieval England is that of Eleanor of Castile and King Edward I (known as the hammer of the Scots). Though their's was an arranged marriage they grew to love each other dearly, had 12 children together, and she followed him on his crusade to the Holy Land. A story states that she saved his life by sucking the poison from a wound he received on the Crusade.

In 1290 she was stricken ill in Harby, near Lincoln and died before her husband could reach her from Scotland. He was inconsolable and ordered her body to be embalmed and her entrails buried at Lincoln Cathedral. He then began the sad trip to bring her home to London for her final rest at Westminster Abbey.

At every place where her body rested along the route he built a cross in her honor, thus there were originally 12 crosses built. The most famous was Charing Cross in London. The original no longer exists, but 3 originals do. The one in Geddington, Northamptonshire was on our route between Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire and I was delighted to be able to stop and see it.

As it turns out this is the finest of the crosses still in existence. It is a beautiful stone monument decorated with carving and statues and it sits right down the hill from the Church of St Mary Magdalene where her body spent the night. This cross is a tribute to the love between a husband and a wife and a national treasure. That it ever existed is amazing enough but that it still exists is truly astounding.