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A National Trust afternoon
Oct. 14th, 2012 11:38 amMy humans have National Trust membership but do not use it as often as they would like. So, given a free Saturday, they decided to visit Eastbury Hall in Barking. Of course, I went along, too.
It's a rather impressive building, though it looks quite incongruous, surrounded on all sides, as it is, by a modern housing estate.
This lovely wall hanging in the main hall was rather reminiscent of my humans' wedding a few years ago. Ah, I remember that day well!
They even had a perfectly bear-sized window for me to enjoy some sun.
This bear-sized hole was rather less pleasant. Help! It smells down here!
Ah, that's better! A very nice attic space, with imposing beams.
In fact, the man who built this house (which dates all the way back to the 1570s) was a bit of a fraud. There are sixteen chimneys visible from the outside, but not nearly that many fireplaces inside. A case of over-compensation, perhaps?
We had hoped for a full afternoon's outing, but the fraudulent merchant misled us as to the size of his abode and it really didn't take us very long to look round.
However, luckily, there was another National Trust property a few miles down the road, so we decided to visit there as well, since we were in the neighbourhood.
Rainham Hall is another imposing building, also incongruously set in a modern Essex town.
The man who lived there had his own coat of arms above the fireplace in the entrance hall - complete with ducks!
Later inhabitants installed cunning cupboards at the foot of the stairs - hidden storage space on one side, and a dumb waiter on the other.
Even the shutters made good use of limited space, with their own special nooks to hide them away during the day.
These tiles, called delft tiles, were apparently common in fireplaces of the period, but these are unusual as they would normally be blue.
I don't think this fellow dates back to the 1700s, but he seemed quite content to guard the place now.
Another case of over-compensation, I think!
Something not experienced by the coachman, who had to be content with this single room cottage in the garden.
I mean, even the dogs had more space!
It was a lovely place, though, and very interesting to look round. All in all, a very successful afternoon's outing!
It's a rather impressive building, though it looks quite incongruous, surrounded on all sides, as it is, by a modern housing estate.
This lovely wall hanging in the main hall was rather reminiscent of my humans' wedding a few years ago. Ah, I remember that day well!
They even had a perfectly bear-sized window for me to enjoy some sun.
This bear-sized hole was rather less pleasant. Help! It smells down here!
Ah, that's better! A very nice attic space, with imposing beams.
In fact, the man who built this house (which dates all the way back to the 1570s) was a bit of a fraud. There are sixteen chimneys visible from the outside, but not nearly that many fireplaces inside. A case of over-compensation, perhaps?
We had hoped for a full afternoon's outing, but the fraudulent merchant misled us as to the size of his abode and it really didn't take us very long to look round.
However, luckily, there was another National Trust property a few miles down the road, so we decided to visit there as well, since we were in the neighbourhood.
Rainham Hall is another imposing building, also incongruously set in a modern Essex town.
The man who lived there had his own coat of arms above the fireplace in the entrance hall - complete with ducks!
Later inhabitants installed cunning cupboards at the foot of the stairs - hidden storage space on one side, and a dumb waiter on the other.
Even the shutters made good use of limited space, with their own special nooks to hide them away during the day.
These tiles, called delft tiles, were apparently common in fireplaces of the period, but these are unusual as they would normally be blue.
I don't think this fellow dates back to the 1700s, but he seemed quite content to guard the place now.
Another case of over-compensation, I think!
Something not experienced by the coachman, who had to be content with this single room cottage in the garden.
I mean, even the dogs had more space!
It was a lovely place, though, and very interesting to look round. All in all, a very successful afternoon's outing!
