Still in the mood for something new (to us), we continued further out into the countryside to see the National Trust's Newark Park home and garden. It is not one of the great houses nor great gardens--never associated with nobility nor any important historical figures, nor great wealth--but there is much to like about it, its origins as an Elizabethan hunting lodge, growth over the centuries as a wealthy family home, decline and the real prospect of demolition, and its eventual salvation by an American ex-pat. He was Robert Parsons, a Texan stationed in the Cotswolds in WWII, who fell in love with England, earned his MA in architecture at Harvard, returned to England, apparently enjoyed a successful-enough career in antiques, and then spent the last 30 years of his life, with partner photographer Michael Claydon, saving and restoring Newark Park. Everyone loves a good salvation and redemption story, right?
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Everything was going swimmingly, Vicki advancing ahead,
when this peacock seemed determined to block my passage |
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| Fiercely; I actually had to back away and off the path... |
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| Somehow I evaded the bird and advanced |
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| England, spring |
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| Oft-photographed view of the place |
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There is, of course, a larger used bookshop within,
normal for the Trust |
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Parsons and Claydon were rather, um, eclectic in their collections
and decor, so don't expect any systematic treatment here; but note
the enormous breakfront... |
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| Curiosities; and beautiful, still-operating radio |
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A succession of models of the house as it grew over
the centuries...presented to us by a volunteer, older than
we... |
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| [click to enlarge] |
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| Incredible that this stuff is still in production and available: Morris |
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| Parsons; more later |
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| Among the artwork, antiques, etc. |
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| Dress-up; but we didn't |
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| Looking out the window to the enclosed garden |
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| [click to enlarge]...dating back to the earliest days |
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| Great find and restoration |
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