Off the beaten track, in the heart of East Yorkshire, there's a magnificent Elizabethan country house called Burton Constable Hall. I hadn't been there since 1969 when I attended an all night pop concert. It was held in the stable block where there is a vast covered space that once hosted a riding school. The headliners that night were The Nice with keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson. I can still picture him now and hear his renditions of "I Want To Be in America" and the Intermezzo from Sibelius's Karelia Suite. Pure brilliance! Sadly Keith Emerson died on March 10th this year, a long way from his Yorkshire birthplace.
Anyway, last Sunday I was back with the wife. It was a lovely day yet there were few visitors. We toured the main house which had many stories to tell and had not been neatly manicured like a department store window display. It was a little jaded and dusty. It smelt vaguely of old soot but contained many fine artefacts - Chippendale furniture, oil paintings, chandeliers, gilded mirrors, busts and close to a cabinet of curiosities, I noticed a complete Etruscan vase just sitting on a mahogany desk. It was made around the year 350BC. I reached out to touch it very gently and there was nobody about to shout "No!" Quite amazing.
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| The orangerie |
In the staircase hall we chatted with one of the stately home's volunteer guides - a man of eighty five called Harry who had worked as a farm labourer at Burton Constable all his life. He had the most lovely, authentic East Yorkshire accent I have heard in years and was a mine of information about the hall and its surrounds.
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| Chair used by Queen Victoria when she visited Hull October 13th 1854 |
We walked in the grounds, visited the orangerie and the great lake created by the famous English landscape gardener Capability Brown. But we never reached the elusive great stag statue we had seen from the house. It was a great visit. If you would like to find out more about Burton Constable Hall and its rich history, please go to the estate's website.
That statue has a lovely arse!
ReplyDeleteBtw the Prof is in sheffield all week!
I shall look out for him and pinch his buttocks if I see him.
DeleteGreat post, Yorkie.
ReplyDeleteHowever, who is that woman mooning the camera?????????
Nice spot to have a picnic! :)
The woman mooning the statue? I believe it is Julia Gillard, beloved former prime minister of Australia.
DeleteIt's great that so many things are kept to show your history. Here most things are torn down .
ReplyDeleteThey might come along to tear you down Red.
DeleteWell, so far they have listened to my protests and I'm still ok!
DeleteI like the gilded palm tree seat. It would look wonderful in my parlour.
ReplyDeleteYou are a woman with exquisite taste Sue. You must also have an exceedingly spacious parlour.
DeleteI have seen leaflets about Burton Constable before, and now after your post put it on my mental list of places I definitely want to see, maybe during this year's Yorkshire Holiday.
ReplyDeleteYou would love it Miss A - especially if the weather is nice - but again - very difficult to get to without a hire car. I believe your sister drives?
DeleteShe does, but does not feel comfortable with the idea of driving on the left. She's never done that and probably won't start now.
DeleteLovely pics. YP and nice to find somewhere that isn't overflowing with visitors at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteThat you and Shirley dining al fresco beside the lake?
No - that wasn't Shirley and I. Later when we walked on that side of the lake I asked those two naturists their names. It was Mr Cuppa or Kappa - something like that and his girl, Chardonnay.
DeleteI like the palm tree seat, too. It looks plush and comfortable!
ReplyDeleteAristocratic English families often had so much money they didn't know what to do with it. "I say my dear, how about a velvet circular seat around a gilded palm tree?"
Delete"Certainly. I'll get an Italian craftsman up from London to craft one. Anything else?"
"How about the statue of a stag on the horizon so that I can see it when playing my harp in the evening?"
"No problem my little petal."
That palm tree seat is just the thing for the front room, along with the dying aspidistra and the paper fan in the fireplace.....
ReplyDeleteAsk Mr Coppa, he will comply with his beloved's wishes.
DeleteThat will be the day !
DeleteYou and Shirley are looking pretty good in that last picture, Mr. Pudding.
ReplyDeleteYeah MT. I forgot to tell you we are naturists.
DeleteI have GOT to get out of London more.
ReplyDeleteWell, now you are on holiday. Britain is your oyster. Have you been to Brighton?
DeleteIt sound very much like the sort of place CJ and I would enjoy exploring. However it's the opposite side of the country from the Wirral and I can't see us making the trip any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI like the orangerie. And the roof and shadow patterns.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
I LOVE the image of the orangerie!
ReplyDelete