Sissinghurst Again; and Good-Bye, UK

We had a hunch that the gardens might be worth a look again at Sissinghurst--our first real stop in June and our last now in August. Only Canterbury and its wonderful aire de camping and then Dover lay between us and our departure from the UK September 3. After Sissinghurst, our last days in the UK were spent resting, reorganizing, returning, repairing, provisioning, and generally enjoying pretty Canterbury.

The oast house at Sissinghurst

The head gardener's notes informed us that
spring/summer work was shifting to autumn/
next year work

Indeed

But the autumn color was coming in well

And there was still much to enjoy

Thus

Thus

And thus

And other things to look at too: the "HN"
pitchfork and the "VSW" spade, for example

Fascinating place

Farewell, UK, it's been great, and we'll be back!

Ightham Mote

Fairly nearby, through ever more tiny, twisty and dark holloways, we drove to the 14th century moated Ightham Mote, the oldest extant English manor house. Apart from its sheer age, the oldest parts dating to 1320, it is significant in that the succession of owners, including, lastly, an American, did very little to remove or destroy the early construction. Indeed, the National Trust spent some $15MM taking Ightham Mote apart and putting it back together, partly for preservation and restoration and partly just to learn how construction was done so many centuries ago. The reconstruction was recorded in great detail. Ightham Mote is a square manor building, ranging around a large central courtyard, surrounded on all four sides by its moat, some 70 different rooms in all. The restoration is aimed at returning the house simply to its 1985 status, when it came to the Trust. Oh, it is pronounced "item moat."

Ightham Mote

Another view

And another

Courtyard; the dog house is the only Grade I listed dog house in the nation

Ceiling of the great hall, oldest part of the manor

Parliamentarian armor, found in the moat in the 19th century

"A Pilgrim Returned," tribute to Henry Robinson, who bought Ightham Moat
after seeing an ad in a country living magazine, in the 1930s, then donated it
many years later to the National Trust

Interior view

One of several places where the restoration left a window, here in the ceiling,
in order to view the original architecture

Old musical instrument

One of the 19th century owners had a connection with Mendelssohn, who
recommended buying this piano

Beautiful old mantle

Ightham Moat has two chapels, the original 14th century,
and this, the new 16th century

Look at the new chapel ceiling planks and you will see the
the rose of Tudor Henry VIII, but also the castle of Castile
and the arrows of Aragon of his then wife, Catherine of
Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; a pretty
good aid to dating the place: 1508-1533

Although by no means a great house, Ightham Moat has had its share of visitors;
Henry James spent two nights in this room, "in the company of a ghost," he wrote,
leading some to speculate that Turn of the Screw was born here; its' a fascinating
place in any case

Knole House 2013

We moved on into Kent, a place of great beauty and tiny, twisty roads, and headed for Sevenoaks and Knole House. We visited Knole in 2009, and were impressed, but I didn't post much because of the no fotos policy. The policy has not changed, unfortunately, but the place is of such interest, its age and contents and history, we went back. Briefly, it was begun in the 15th century as the palace of the archbishops of Canterbury. Henry VIII acquired it in 1538, and then his daughter Elizabeth passed it on to her cousins, the Sackvilles. It has been theirs since 1603, although it has been in the National Trust for some time now. Among the Sackvilles was a royal chamberlain for William III, basically the guy entrusted with disposing of all the furniture, art, etc., that the new king and queen didn't want. Thus Knole has the best collection of all things Tudor and Stuart; which is well worth seeing. The portraits of Elizabeth, her dad, and all their cronies are well worth seeing by themselves. Although only a smidgeon of the house is open, it is thought to have been a "calendar house": 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances, etc. It was the childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, and it figures in her writings as well as in Virginia Woolf's.

Knole House entrance; it's really big

Interior courtyard entrance

Ha! A clandetine shot of the sculpture of Giovanna Bacelli
(her stage name), one of the mistresses of John Sackville,
3rd Duke of Dorset; he had it prominently displayed, his
subsequent wife had it removed to a stairwell; the house is
replete with Knellers, Reynolds, and Gainboroughs, and
others, some quite famous; but, alas, no fotos!

One of the Sackville leopards that adorn the place

Back outside, a very large English oak

White hart

Afternoon outing in Britland, on the grounds at Knole

William Morris' Red House

Where we were going next turned out to be London, its southeast suburb of Bexleyheath, across the Docklands, east London, the Blackwall Tunnel, to Red House, the only house designed, built, and lived in by Arts and Crafts Movement guru William Morris. (Think Art Nouveau). He built it in 1860, just after his wedding and a honeymoon in France and was assisted by architect Philip Webb and artist Edward Burne-Jones. He sold it in 1865, never returned, but the house has remained a Mecca for artsy/craftsy types.

Red House entrance

Much interesting stained and painted glass

Thus

And thus, the front door; there is much Morrisiana
throughout the house, much of it later stuff, but there
is also much by Burne-Jones, other friends, and later
occupants of the house

The downstairs settle

Up close; it is said that Morris came to grief over this painting and his perceived
inability to represent the human figure; and thus decided not to become a painter

Nice touch department: on panes in a door near the entry visitors scratched their
names; look closely and you will see A. Lasenby Liberty, of Regent Street
department store fame; Art Nouveau is known as "Liberty" in some other parts
of the world

Main floor view

Staircase ceiling

The master bedroom settle, leading to a loft and the attic, flanked by Burne-Jones'
paintings

The Red House came to the National Trust only a few years ago, and every
time they do repair or restoration something new and unknown pops up; here,
a floral design under ceiling slats; scratch tests are ongoing throughout the
house

Upstairs hallway

Just discovered department: this mural, presumably by Burne-Jones, was just
uncovered a few months back

One of two original Morris print blocks on display at the house

Thus (on the wall)

A Morris tapestry

Back yard view; the whole thing was set in what had been an apple orchard, and
several ancient trees remained; Morris' garden was among the first to incorporate
a "room" design (herb room, vegetable room, flower room, etc.) which we have
seen elsewhere

Vicki taught at Bexley High School, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio,
and we lived in Bexley for a few years...our first house; daughter
Rebecca was born in those days and spent her first few years on
Bellwood Avenue, Bexley, Ohio