At the beginning of October, Pat and David Oldcorn led a coach party to Polesdon Lacey NT. It was a wet and wonderful visit. Heavy rain was falling when we arrived and many of the group took shelter in the café. A few brave souls roamed the gardens and took shelter under various arbours of trees and shrubs. Eventually, the sun came out and dried up the rain, enabling us to enjoy the gardens more comfortably.
Parts of the garden were newly planted and others were under reconstruction. Our general opinion is that the gardens, especially the rose garden, kitchen garden and wider estate would be worth visiting again in the Summer.
The house is small, and our party was split into two groups. Both guides were enthusiastic about the property and very knowledgeable about its history. There has been a house at Polesdon Lacey since 1336 and it has undergone many extensions and much redevelopment. The most recent private owner was Margaret Greville, a popular and influential society hostess who remodelled it considerably and used it to entertain royalty, politicians and celebrities at lavish weekend house parties. She notably invited the then future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother to spend the first part of their 1923 honeymoon at Polesdon Lacey. The drawing room was certainly lavishly decorated.
We were lucky to be visiting Polesdon Lacey during an art exhibition celebrating the work of Luke Adam Hawker, a nature artist and author who has recently published an illustrated book called, ‘The Last Tree’. Copies of his illustrations are displayed alongside Margaret Greville’s collection of artworks which reflects the fashion of the early 20th century and includes a large number of Faberge objects. The exhibition leads visitors on a walk through an installation encouraging them to appreciate the e beauty of nature through ink line drawings, prints, illustrations on the pages of Hawker’s book which takes readers on an imaginative journey to a world without trees.
We all enjoyed the visit and look forward to returning next year in one of the months of late Spring or early Summer. Thanks go to Pat and David for organising this outing.
Jackie Wiggins