Who? What? Where? When?

     If you remember my last post, I mentioned that I have been pretty preoccupied lately with my project work. Well, after working on it for a couple of weeks now, I thought I'd take the chance to share with you all what I have been working on.

     But first, in order to do that, I need to give a brief history of the house and how my project ties in with that history. I think that it's about time I did so, as I have barely mentioned anything about the background of the property I am at, or why I find it so amazing.

     Basildon Park is a grand Georgian mansion, designed in the Palladian architectural style. This took its influence from the classical Greek and Roman temples, and was very keen on the use of symmetry, which is something that is easily seen throughout the house, and indeed, when also viewed from the front of the building as you first approach. It was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes, a Yorkshire man who made his fortune at a young age during his time in the East India Company. It was upon his return to England that he commissioned an architect, John Carr of York, to build a home for himself and his family that would also serve as an obvious display of his wealth and status. Unfortunately for him, however, he was to soon face a series of corruption charges against his time in India, and as such many of the rooms in Basildon Park were left unfinished at the time of his death in 1804.

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Basildon Park - As seen in an engraving from 1794, just over a decade after its completion. Based on an artwork by Edward Dayes (1763 - 1804)

Basildon Park - Built in the Paladian style by architect John Carr in 1776. It took its inspiration from the classical Greek and Roman temple buildings, as is obvious from the front of the building. It was also a style obsessed with symmetry, which is also something that can be seen from the front of Basildon.

Tabley House - This house, in Cheshire, was also built in the Palladian style by John Carr. It is very similarly in many ways to Basildon, and gives an example of how similar many of the buildings of this style were.

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     By the time of the 3rd Sir Sykes in 1829, the house was put on the market. It was eventually bought by the Liberal MP James Morrison in 1838. It was Morrison, along with his architect J. B. Papworth, who completed much of the interior of the house, particularly the rooms left unfinished since the time of Sir Francis Sykes. It was to stay in his family throughout the 19th century until the death of Ellen Morrison in 1910. 

    Then came the sad years for Basildon. And not only for Basildon, but for most of the world. By 1914, the Great War had turned Europe upside down and inside out. During this period, the house was used as an army convalescent home, and much of its former grandeur was left looking tired and faded as a result. By 1929 it had been sold to a property speculator, Mr. Ferdinando, who had planned to sell it to America and ship it over brick by brick. Luckily, for the fate of Basildon Park, America was in a time of deep depression, and not even the rich were willing to take on such a massive project. In the mean time, however, Ferdinando saw fit to strip the house of much of its original fireplaces, doors, plasterwork, gilding and anything that was resellable. 

    Then came the Second World War. The house was once again to be used for military purposes, with troops, clerks, labourers and German prisoners of war billeted in and around the house. Indeed, the cabin which I live in, "Ivy Cottage", is the last remaining hut of many which were dotted around the grounds and used to house the German prisoners of war. The house's grounds was used to train and prepare American soldiers for the D-Day landings in Normandy. 

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Basildon Park - The entrance pillars to the house are missing the wrought iron gates that adorned the structure prior to the Second World War. In this photo you can also make out a sign which says "Working Camp". The home was used to house many German POW's who were stationed here even after the war, awaiting to be returned home.

This photo clearly shows the sad state of the house after the Second World War, and the damage that was done under the management of Ferdinando. Many of the windows are smashed, missing or boarded up. Many of the doors are removed. The grounds are overgrown with weeds. In the winter of 1947, the house suffered damage from a major fire on its upper floor, destroying much of the interior of the North wing of the house. The ceiling collapsed in to the room below. Evidence of this fire can still be seen today in the wooden beams of the loft, and the floorboards of the library.

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     And so Basildon was a ruin by the end of the Second World War. The only remnants of its former grandeur being in the obvious size, scale, and design of its facade. And so it would have remained, if it wasn't for Lord and Lady Iliffe. Looking for a new home to start their married life together, they eventually discovered Basildon Park. Having been in Lord Iliffe's Father's ownership for sometime after the war, they decided to purchase the house and restore it to its former glory. This was no easy task, given the post war period of rationing. However, with Lady Iliffe's keen eye for interior design and with many former stately homes being demolished after the Second World War, they were able to furnish it so well that many of the rooms look as though they were original to house itself. 

    Lord and Lady Iliffe lived in the house until they passed away; Lord Iliffe passed in 1996, Lady Iliffe in 2007. They gifted the house to the National Trust in 1978, along with a large endowment, to ensure its future. 

    And so, that brings me on to my project. As much of the house today is on display as it would have been in the time of the Iliffe's after their purchase of the house in the 50's, I have decided to go the other way and use the 18th century kitchen as a way of telling the story of the house I have just told you - the story before the Iliffe's. I have been challenged with making the room that would have been the 18th century kitchen according to Carr's original designs, in to a more presentable, interesting and lively experience for visitors. 

I have decided to concentrate on the lives of the "Downstairs", the servants, butlers, cooks etc, as opposed to the nobility's who took residence there over the past 3 centuries.  

The room at the moment is very dull.

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     As you can see, the space is very cluttered, and has no real organisation or purpose to it at all. It is vaguely a "Kitchen", but needs a lot more work. I am very excited about what I will be doing with this space. I plan to make the experience much more sensory, with sounds and smells. It is a work in progress, and I can't wait to share the finished result with you!

     For now, I have made a map of the ground floor of the house, illustrating just how much of the space would have been used to house the many servants and domestic rooms and out buildings. I will share that with you now as a sneak peek of what is to come.

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My map illustrating how much space was reserved for the many domestic rooms and outbuildings.

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I look forward to sharing with you all my progress on this.

Until then,

Best wishes,

Craig

Want to ask a question?

Just a quick update.

I have enabled comments on all of my posts, as of now. If you have a question about a particular post, would like to find out more about what I do, or about the house I work at, please feel free to post a comment. 

Whilst I will do my utmost to reply to every one, please understand that due to limited internet access, I am only online a few times a week.

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Best wishes,

Craig

Happy Easter...Oh wait, it's over already?

    So Easter is finally over! I say finally as we have received over 4,000 visitors in the past 3 days to the house and grounds. Luckily for me, however, I came away relatively unscathed by the whole experience, having been preoccupied with my project work (more on that later...) I would like to point out that I erroneously wrote in my last post that I was dreading that coming weekend as I mistook it for Easter weekend. (Doh!)

   This week has been quite a strange one, and rather different to what I have done with my time here so far. Monday and Tuesday of last week I received my two day Tour Guide training, courtesy of Neil, one of the house stewards. It's always a pleasure working with Neil as he is one of the few staff to have worked in the house when the Illife's were both still alive. He has some amazing, and often comical, stories of what it was like to have known and worked for them. Having worked at Basildon for over 25 years, Neil is without a doubt one of the most knowledgeable people in the house when it comes to the Illifes. I can see myself being Neil in 25 years time, and would be quite content being so.

    The training consisted of various group activities; drawing a 'perfect' tour guide and labelling him/her with qualities; carrying out a mock tour of the house; learning about the different types of visitor to National Trust properties and how to cater for them; and so on. It was pretty useful stuff, and I feel I am now ready to give my first official tour of the house. Again, the stories Neil has passed on to myself, Jess and Helen, are so  unique and informative that I feel as if I have always known Lord and Lady Illiffe. I hope to be able to pass on these stories and knowledge in my own tours. I'll let you know how my first tour went as soon as it happens. 

    Spring is very much in full *ahem* spring (excuse the pun) in Basildon Park. The estate is full of bluebells, cowslips, primrose and so on. I took the time on my day off last week to take a walk with Helen around the grounds and through the woodlands. It is the first time I have explored them, and I wasn't disappointed. I encountered a pretty tame pheasant, which I have been told has been nick named Fergus by the house staff. Apparently, he likes to chase cars! I saw this for myself a few days later when a car driving no more than 5miles an hour up the driveway was forced to slam its brakes on as a rather irritated pheasant tried attacking its wheels. It was hilarious. I just hope he doesn't get run over one day. As of a few days ago, we have also noticed that Fergus has other male rivals, I imagine all competing for the female pheasant that has been spotted on site.

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One of the many Spring blossoms that are around the road leading from my
cottage to the big house. The grounds are dotted with them.When I walk to work in the morning
it rains blossom petals. When you look down the long straight road, it almost looks
as if it's snowing. I can definitely think of worse ways to get to work in the morning!

The number one Pheasant in the park, Fergus! He's become a bit of a celebrity with the visitors. Due to his tame nature,
he is easily photographed and loves posing for the camera whilst strutting his stuff. He better not turn his back too long, though, as other male pheasants have recently been spotted on site, so he has competition for the female!

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    It seems that as Spring is in mid swing now, the house staff decided to have a much needed Spring clean in some of the rooms of the house not open to the public. We started on Neil's flower room. Helen and I took the best part of two days rearranging, tidying and chucking away what wasn't needed. Although, we did find some pretty interesting things in the process. 

     It was also the time to retire some of the more tired items in the house in to storage. One of these items was a rug which, according to Neil, had been in the Cloak Room for over 10 years. That's 10 years of muddy feet, boots, hells, kids dragging their feet etc along it, that have all made it look rather tired. It was a great opportunity to teach me how they store away such items.This can either be temporary storage, for example in the case of a filming event such as Downton Abbey, or a more permanent storage for the items such as this particular rug, which are too tired to stay on display, but too valuable to simply dispose of. The process involves layering the surface of the rug with thin tissue paper. The rug is then flipped upside down, with more tissue paper added on this side. We then roll the rug, with the weave on the outside, on to a hollow tube. Finally, we wrap the rug in a wax coated paper to prevent damp, before sealing it all with masking tape, labelling it, and putting it away in storage. 

    I also took the time over the few days cleaning to replace any light bulbs that had blown out. Some are relatively easy, such as the many table lamps and candelabras. However, some are not so easy, particularly the bulbs illuminating the portraits on the walls, or in the ceiling lanterns and chandeliers. This involves closing off a section to the public and carrying a big ladder out of storage. 

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The Flower Cupboard, tucked away in what would have been servants quarters, was a little cluttered before Helen and I tidied it. This is the finished result of our two days work. All of the fresh flowers throughout the house, as well as the fake floral arrangements, are hand made by Neil and our resident florist. 

We did find some pretty cool things whilst clearing the cupboard, such as this 1950's croquet set. I'm not sure it's been used in a long time, but it definitely fits in to the image of the house!

The rug from the cloak room, wrapped in tissue paper and ready to be sealed with the wax coated tissue. This is taken in the Conservation Room, which is a treasure trove of items which are waiting to be restored and ready to be put back on display. It also contains many various bits of plasterwork, spare chairs or furniture etc which are waiting for a day where they may become useful.

As mentioned earlier, some of the portrait light bulbs are quite hard to change. These are two of the Apostles, St Peter and St Matthew, painted by Italian painter Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787). They make up a series of portraits which hang in the Octagon Room, consisting of God the Father, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Matthew, John and Evangelist, Saint Thomas, Saint Andrew and James the Less. Almost all paintings in the house are of a religious nature or of landscapes. This is because Lady Illife, after buying the house in the 50's, said to Lord Illife, "I don't want any pictures of other people's dead ancestors on the walls".

Me finishing the polishing of the floor in the South Pavilion. It needed to be treated with a solution of 50% vinegar, 50% water, firstly. This was to remove the old layer of floor wax. It then needed to be waxed by hand, before being buffed by this machine. This has to be done a few times to get a nice shiny floor. Made me appreciate how hard it can be to keep up standards on presentation, even on something as overlooked as the floor!
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     So, as you can see, it has been a busy week or two! It hasn't been all plain sailing along the way, though. I've had my head in the clouds on a couple of occasions this week, it seems. Most notably (and to much hilarity from the other staff), I managed to lock myself in the Exhibition Room. I have also dropped a pair of keys off the landing on to the floor below (luckily before any of the guests arrived), as well as nearly knocking on the paintings from the Octagon Room on to the floor whilst changing the light bulbs. It's all a steep learning curve, though, and so far I have managed to not break or damage a single thing. But still, better not tempt fate, eh?

    I look forward to seeing what the next few weeks will bring! Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to give my first tour of the house between now and writing my next entry. 

Until then,

Best wishes,

Craig

Half the Police Force of Reading...

     I'm coming to the end of my second week here at Basildon Park, and it already feels like I've been here forever. Normally, that would be a bad thing. However, this is a purely good feeling. I feel like I've always been here and I never want to leave.

     This week, I finally managed to finish polishing Lady Iliffe's silver dinner service. When I placed the last few pieces back on the table I felt pretty good about myself. Seeing the table all laid out looks amazing. Especially with the now newly polished silver. As the Dining Room was used in the 2013 Christmas Special of Downton Abbey, the table is laid out as if the characters of the show are just about to sit down to dinner there, with place cards for all of them. 

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The newly polished silver. At the end of the table, you can see
a blue dress, which was worn by Shirley Maclaine, who plays Martha Levinson
in the 2013 Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

A closer look at the silver dinner service; this particular seat has been 'reserved' for the Countess of Grantham. The more observant of you will notice that the knives are facing the wrong way around. This is because Lady Iliffe, when moving to her new apartment on site in her later years, took the silver dinner service with her. In its place, this silver plated version, which is an exact copy of the original, was made. As she resented the idea of people considering her cheap, or being able to see what the hallmark might have been if it were real silver, she insisted that the knives point outwards, hiding the stamp which would show that the cutlery was *only* silver plated.

A close up of one of the dresses as worn by Shirley Maclaine, Martha Levinson, in the 2013
Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

None other than the lady herself, wearing the dress above.

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     On Sunday morning, Helen and I were at work at 9:00am as we are supposed to be. However, for some reason, we were still waiting to be given our orders for the day as management were running late; by 9:30am we decided to just go ahead and start opening the house ready for the day ahead and come back to the office later to see what needed to be done for the rest of the day. We went from room to room, unlocking them, tidying up and hoovering ready for the day ahead. At about 10:00am, we had a shout from Neil, one of our superiors, to come downstairs as Tim, another one of our superiors, wanted to have a word with us. I looked at Helen, and Helen looked at me, and it was evident that neither of us could think what we might have done wrong for us to be called downstairs in the middle of our work for Tim to 'have a word' with us.

     It turned out that as we had arrived ahead of the other staff that morning, and went about our business, that we had accidentally set off the houses alarm system. This was due to the fact that there was no body there to deactivate it before we entered the building. We both assumed that as there were already other members of staff about the house, that it was safe to go ahead and open up. As Tim ended up putting it, "You both nearly had half the police force in Reading out to Basildon House this morning". Oops...

     As it happened, we both weren't in the wrong. As we were walking home that evening after the days work, we both realised that it simply couldn't have been us. Mainly because there were other staff already in the building, and also because Tim mentioned briefly that the alarms were triggered at a certain time after 8:00am. Both Helen and I were still in bed at that point! So, no harm was done, whoever it was that it might have actually been in the end!

     As one might expect working in a stately home as old and as grand as Basildon, there are plenty of stories from the staff about their experiences with the 'supernatural'. I, myself, have already had one that made me jump. Tuesday morning was a particularly grey and miserable day. That morning, I was in Lady Iliffe's bedroom hoovering and polishing ready for the days guests. As I walked across the floor, I heard what sounded like I had stood on a dogs tail. It was an eerie yelping noise that was so distinct. The rational side of me ended up putting it down to a creaky floorboard. 

     The next morning, I was hoovering again. This time, I decided that as I opened each room and carried out my tasks that I greet the room by saying "Good morning!" and then hum and whistle my way through, so as to pierce the dead silence that you get whilst being the only person on the entire top floor of the house. After finishing the Green Chintz bedroom, I turned off the hoover, turned around, and saw Helen standing there in the corner of the room scaring the bloody hell out of me! We both have an agreement now that if we enter a room that we know the other is in, we will make a large amount of noise by whistling, coughing, or something similar, to warn that other that we are approaching. Hopefully that will avoid similar things happening in the future!

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I took this photo of myself outside work that morning, deliberately taking it in black and white to capture the mood of the day and to exaggerate how spooky the house can be, even in daylight.

Lady Illife's bedroom. It's a very cosy room, and more homely than the state rooms downstairs. But it can still be quite spooky when you are the only person on the floor in the morning and the evening. I think it has something to do with the high ceilings, maybe? 

The Green Chintz bedroom, where Helen scared the life out of me! Notice the 1950's teas maid on the bedside table. The house is a really interesting clash of 18th Century furnishings mixed with 1950's mod-cons. This is due to the fact that the Iliffe's lived here from the 50's until the day they both died; Lady Iliffe surviving her Husband having passed away at the age of 90 in 2007.

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     As Jess and I both had the day off on Wednesday, we decided to take a day trip in to Reading. I knew it was close to here, but I was still surprised that it was only just a 10 minute train journey, with the return ticket costing £3.80. I can definitely get used to public transport at that price. The only downside, though, is that the bus service is far from perfect. Both Jess and I were the only people on the bus to the station, and the last bus on a weekday is at 4:20pm. We are looking in to getting a bike. We are also planning a trip to Windsor Castle and to London to see a West End show.

     I have had time off since Wednesday and am going back to work on Easter Sunday (God help me!). Apparently, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday are some of their busiest days of the year. Mothering Sunday had over 800 guests through the house in one day. I can't imagine how bad it might be on Sunday. And, I am the only intern in on that day! I will let you know how it goes.

Until then,

Best wishes,

Craig

Cabin in the Woods

     I am here, at last. After months of waiting and lots of excitement, I am finally settled in to my new home here at Basildon Park for the next 3 months.

     I arrived last Sunday during Mothering Sunday, which is one of the busiest days of the year for the house. This year was no different, and over 800 visitors arrived to tour the house and grounds whilst I was unpacking my things in to my new home.

Ivy Cottage - My home for the duration of my stay.

     My new home is very rural. Situated on the edge of the estate, Ivy Cottage is unique. It is the last remaining structure of it's kind on the estate, which would have had many of these dotted around during it's use in both world wars and would have been used to house the American RAF and at one point, POW's. It is a simple, yet idyllic setting. During the day I have so far spotted a pheasant, a deer,  agrouse and many smaller birds. During the night I have even been greeted by a badger. On my first evening here, I spent it alone, as Jess wasn't to arrive until the next day. I took this time to explore the grounds some more, and what a great evening it was!

Basildon House can be seen in the distance,through the lush field of daffodils. It made a Welshman like me feel right at home!

     Jess arrived the next day, and we spent most of it getting to know each other and unpacking our things before getting an early night in preparation our first day of work.

     In my old job, I would wake up dreading work whilst dragging myself reluctantly out of bed to shower and dress before taking the bus to start at 9am. On this particular morning, however, I was awake and full of energy. Instead of the dull bus journey I was used to before, I now have time to enjoy the walk in to work  down through the woods, approaching the house as I do so. It really is stunning and I can't see myself ever getting sick of it greeting me as it does each morning.

     We mainly spent the first day being introduced to everyone that will be assisting and teaching us during our stay. However, before any of that could happen, we had to help prepare the house for it's opening to the public at 11am. We played a minor role in this, more as observers than participators. It was more for us to take in how things are done each day. We spent the rest of the day being given a guided tour of the house and gardens, before going back to the house to help prepare to close it ready for the next days work. This basically involved the same tasks as the morning opening, just in reverse.

     Yesterday, we were greeted by Emma, our instructor, and instead of of just observing the morning house opening routine, we actually helped out. It is relatively simple process. It mainly involves carrying out the daily, weekly, or monthly cleaning duties. This can be anything from hoovering and polishing, to more intricate and delicate jobs such as dusting off the gilded items using small horse hair brushes. The afternoon was taken up by us cleaning the silver in the grand Dining Room.

"A subdued tint pervaded every part of the chamber: the ceiling was painted in grey tinted frescoes of a classical and festive character, and the side table, which stood in a recess supported by four columns, was adorned with choice Etruscan vases." -  The Dining Room, as described by Disraeli's Henrietta Temple (1837)

     As the park is recently open 363 days a year, it has to now carry out much of its conservation work in sight of the general public. This is a great way of educating visitors about the work that the National Trust carries out in its continuous restoration and conservation of the property. It has been named "Conservation in Action", and whilst cleaning the silver, we were placed behind the visitor barriers and within plain sight, to allow them to see the work that we were carrying out and to give them the opportunity to ask us any questions that they had about the work that we were doing.

A photo that was taken by me of Jess whilst we were both carrying out our "Conservation in Action" on the silver cutlery on display in the Dining Room.

     We spent the rest of the day doing this, before helping to prepare the rooms ready to be closed for the evening and the next days visitors.

     I have been lucky enough to have today and tomorrow off to have time to explore the grounds in more depth and am meeting up with Helen, another intern, to explore the gardens and parkland tomorrow morning, before going back to work in the weekend.

     I am looking forward to see what the weekend has to bring, as it is generally the busiest time of the week for the house, and what jobs and activities I will be carrying out during that time.

     I am still piecing together a broader history of the house as I learn things through tour guides, staff and past interns during my time here, and I hope to know enough to write a bit more about that for you all within the next few days.

     I hope you have enjoyed learning about my time here so far, as much as I have in being here. If you would like to know anything more, please feel free to contact me.

Until then,

Best wishes,

Craig