Sunday 22 July 2018

Where fragrance, peace and beauty reign

On the Thursday of our first holiday week, we were delighted to wake up to blue skies and sunshine, and what's more, the weather forecast for the next week or so was looking particularly splendid: it seemed we were in for some gloriously sunny days.  Knowing the fickleness of the weather, we hoped they were right for a change!

This meant that I could finally wave goodbye to my floral trousers, lovely though they are, and start wearing my frocks.

Admittedly, it was still a bit chilly in our valley, so I needed to add a cardigan and my jeans jacket for now, but here's how happy I felt to be wearing one of my beloved frocks again!



This one, a dusky pink Crimplene number, printed with a yellow, orange and green flower print, is making its debut on the blog, as it was a fairly recent find from Think Twice.

We were off to Wales again, to visit a National Trust property near Wrexham, called Erddig. And no, the double "d" isn't a typing error: it's a Welsh name, and it's pronounced "Erthig"!

This property had been on our list of places to visit ever since Jos read about it in this wonderful book published by the National Trust, which goes behind the scenes of some of their properties, offering an in-depth look at the domestic arrangements in large country houses.



As we were only about an hour and a quarter or so away (we'd passed signs to it when we we driving up to Chester), this was our chance to put it on our itinerary.

Widely acclaimed as one of Britain's finest historic houses, Erddig is a fascinating yet unpretentious early 18th-century country house reflecting the upstairs-downstairs life of a gentry family over 250 years.



The atmospheric house features an impressive range of outbuildings, including stables, a smithy, a joiner's shop and a sawmill.

As the house itself only opened at 12.30, we had a look around these first.



After lunch, we walked to the front of the house to admire its long, creeper-clad façade. The wings at each end of the central block were added by John Meller, a rich London lawyer, who bought the property in 1714.



Since that point, nearly all of Meller's original interiors have been left intact.

On his death in 1733, unmarried and childless, the property went to his nephew, Simon Yorke, and the house was subsequently passed down through generations of the Yorke family.


The house is entered via the servants’ entrance, a nod to the unusual nature of the relationship between upstairs and downstairs at Erddig.

Servants' bells (top left and bottom right), a glimpse into the Butler's Pantry 
(top right) and a very early pedal powered vacuum cleaner (bottom left)

The Yorke family seems to have regarded their servants with real affection and recognized them as individuals to be celebrated and recorded for posterity. As a result, there's an astonishing number of servants' portraits at Erddig.

Early 20th century ice box with instructions to use

Through a unique collection of paintings, printed documents and even poems, the Yorke family created an unmatched record of domestic life in a stately home, detailing who their servants were and how they lived.


The oversized bug you can see among the freshly ironed linen on the bottom right (below) is a moth, and is part of the Erddig Bug Bonanza. Ten of these huge creepy crawlies were lurking in the house for visitors to spot, each one drawing attention to the damage they can cause.


The Yorke family were hoarders and hardly ever threw anything away, and each of their 30,000 plus objects, handed down over the generations, has a story to tell.

In the early seventies, Erddig was on the brink of ruin. The last Squire and only remaining heir, Philip Yorke III, had inherited the crumbling Welsh stately home.


As the Bersham colliery runs underneath the house, erosion had caused it to subside 5 feet (1,5 m), to the extent that, without underpinning, it would have become a ruin. The huge responsibility weighed heavily on Philip’s shoulders (he was, after all, the last curator of his family’s home with its unique collections) and eventually, in 1973, he handed the house and its contents to the National Trust, who faced their biggest conservation challenge at that time.

The contraption top right is a 19th century free standing shower
which worked with a hand pump

Erddig Hall is set within a 1200-acre country park.


The gardens and parkland were largely the work of landscape designer William Emes, who worked at Erddig from 1768-1780.

Emes created gravelled walks, planted many trees which are still thriving today, and manipulated the flow of water across the park through a series of cascades and weirs.



Emes also designed the unusual "Cup and Saucer" water feature, the "cup" being a hole in the middle of a large disc (the "saucer") into which a flowing brook disappears creating an internal cylindrical waterfall. This system quickly lowers the brook, preventing erosion.


Nearby, an Hydraulic Ram pumped water up to the house to storage cisterns in the roof of the house. The distinctive thud of the mechanism became known as the "heart of Erddig". The water is still used today to power the fountains in the garden.


Emes also incorporated into his designs some of the early earthwork features at Erddig, for example the remains of the 11th Century Motte and Bailey castle, now only witnessed by raised earthen mounds covered by trees.

Several walks around the estate are laid out, all starting from the dovecote, which you can see in the centre of the above collage.

We chose the 1-mile orange one through Big Wood to the remains of the Motte and Bailey.


Following the orange markers seemed very straightforward, until we came to one which at first had us stumped, as it was pointing in two directions. Then we clocked that we'd arrived at the motte and bailey and that we were supposed to walk around it, which we promptly did ... in the wrong direction!




Back at the house, we finished our day with a cup of coffee in the tea garden, planning to return in a year's time for a longer walk in this quiet oasis.

* The title of this post is a quote from Philip Yorke II, who inherited Erddig in 1894.

I'm taking my pink dress to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!



38 comments:

  1. First of all, I love that pink dress! You must have SQUEE'ed when you found it.

    What a gracious family to value their servants.

    Happy thrifting ;)

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    1. Haha, yes, I actually did SQUEE when I found the dress!

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  2. What an interesting spot and so very well preserved!

    I'm sure part of the reason that the servants were so valued was because the guy lived alone.

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

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    1. I always like the servant's quarters best! xxx

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  3. Love your new dress, and the brooch.
    Beautiful grounds an such glorious weather to explore the estate.That "Shower" seems like more trouble than it was worth!

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    1. Thank you Goody! I agree about that shower ... xxx

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  4. What a fascinating place, Ann! Such beautiful weather too! You look fabulous in your new pink floral dress and I love how you've accessorised with the pretty butterfly brooch and green necklace. Hope you have a great week ahead, Ann. XXX

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    1. Thank you Sasha! I have that butterfly brooch in three different colours, and they all came with me on holiday! xxx

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  5. although moth don´t eat linen ;-D
    what a time travel! totally fab! thank you for all the pictures and descriptions. they would have me pushed out at closing time....
    and you look the part in the pink&flower dress - and green accessories! gorgeous!
    hugest hugses! xxxxxx

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    1. Time to put that right, eh? It did look a harmless sort of moth, almost cuddly! We always take a long time exploring houses like these. There's so much to see! xxx

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  6. That last photo of the cow peeping around the brick wall is priceless!! How freeing to be back in your dresses, particularly when they're as nice as that pink one. Erddig looks to be a special place, truly beautiful. Xx

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    1. And to think I almost didn't use the cow photo! The brick wall is actually part of the dovecote, where all the walks started, and it was in the middle of a field full of cows! xxx

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  7. It's good to see that the weather had improved by this point and that you are looking pretty in pink.
    Your holiday sounds lovely and it's interesting to read about an area I don't know very well.
    It's very refreshing to read of a family who regarded their domestic staff so highly and the grounds look beautiful. xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally! What a relief about the weather, and what a difference with last year, too! xxx

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  8. Oh my, 30,000 objects! What a fascinating home. Love your pink frock, and thanks for sharing your fun with us, xox

    -Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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    1. Thank you Patti. They do not display all the objects at once, there are far too many of them. xxx

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  9. What an amazing adventure you had! That is just so beautiful - I pored over every picture. Hurray for heatwaves and being able to go back to frocks! I'm so nosy - I love being able to poke around in old houses, and that one looks fascinating. Thank you!

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    1. I'm quite nosy too, which is I love visiting these houses so much! xxx

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  10. Oh what a glorious place! I would love to visit there.
    I spotted your wild orchid (I think? Or is it a sweet pea?)
    I particularly love red brick work!

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    1. It was indeed a glorious place. And I guess it was a perennial sweet pea: unfortunately these do not smell! xxx

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  11. what a fabulous place, I love all those details about everyday's life of servants and all the objects they used, it's moving and charming! and the house, the gardens, the walks, everything is amazing!
    And your pink dress looks fabulous too!, the lovely color combo, the accessorizing!
    besos

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    1. Thank you Monica! We love visiting these properties, particularly the ones which also show the "downstairs" part and the servants's quarters. xxx

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  12. It looks lovely, I can't believe so much remains of their belongings.
    xx

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    1. I don't think they ever threw anything away ... xxx

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  13. What a fascinating place, thank goodness for the National Trust or so many of these stately homes would have been lost.x

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    1. I'm a big fan of the National Trust and have visited lots of properties over the years. It would have been so sad if they would have been lost. xxx

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  14. Your pink magenta-ish dress is fabulous! You do look very happy and content wearing it on a sunny day! I must admit, I am not especially familiar with the whole upstairs downstairs thing, being from the USSR. But your story reminds me of Downton Abbey which I love! I remember as I watched it, I thought it was just author's imagination - the picture of one big happy family where upstairs deeply cares about downstairs, and vice versa (for the most part, at least). But now I understand that in real aristocratic homes, it must be the case - if you are aristocratic in your spirit, you cannot treat those who are less fortunate badly! You must be kind and respectful!
    Fascinating home, and your photos are brilliant!

    Lots of love!

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    1. Thank you Natalia! I think it's quite unusual for the servants to be treated like this and that the one big happy family thing is a romanticized version in most cases. xxx

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  15. Lovely to hear all about your holiday in England. Erddig sounds really interesting. I love how you bring it to life with your writing style, I really want to go there! Glad you had some lovely sunshine. X

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    1. Thank you Linda! Maybe the National Trust should give me free membership ... xxx

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  16. Lovely pink dress and you look gorgeous in it.

    What a fascinating place to visit. I just love all that domestic detail I find it so fascinating. This house is going on my 'must see' list as I could probably squeeze in a visit one day en route to catch the ferry to Ireland!
    xxxx

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    1. Thank you Veronica, and Erddig is definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area! xxx

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  17. Erddig's definitely on the agenda for the Autumn - your lovely photos and in-depth description have sold it to us.
    Love your pretty dress and the cheeky cow peeping around the corner. xxx

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    1. By all means, do go and see Erddig for yourselves! You won't be disappointed. We could even do it together next Summer! xxx

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  18. The house looks really interesting. It looks barely untouched. It makes me want to visit wales! I love stuff like this xx

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    1. Thank you Laurie! I'd never been to that part of Wales before. The house is definitely worth a visit! xxx

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  19. Yes, the Welsh alphabet is different to the English one, and dd is a letter in its own right (like ff and ll). Welsh is pretty easy to pronounce once people know the rules, I find - it's not like English where pronunication and spelling can really differ.

    I'd never heard of Erddig, but it looks absolutely lovely. The cup and saucer is a brilliant idea. (Hopefully not so deep people can fall down it!)

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    1. Re:Welsh pronunciation, that is exactly what I keep telling Jos! xxx

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