| BUCKINGHAMSHIRE |
| Ascott |
Off A418, 2.5 miles south-west of Leighton Buzzard |
The house is a largely 19th century construction of mock Tudor
half-timbering, but it contains an outstanding art collection. Dutch
painters of the 17th century are especially well represented, and there
are many fine English and Italian paintings as well as Persian carpets and
magnificent examples of Chinese Ming porcelain. |
| Boarstall Duck Decoy and Tower |
Off B4011, 10 miles west of Aylesbury |
A decoy in its original sense was an enclosed place - often a pond -
into which wildfowl were lured for capture. At Boarstall the National
Trust maintains an 18th century specimen in working order. There is an
exhibition hall, and the decoy is situated in 13 acres of natural woodland
where a nature trail has been laid out. Boarstall Tower, in the same
village, is the 14th century moated stone gatehouse of a now-vanished
fortified house. |
| Buckinghamshire County Museum |
In Aylesbury town centre |
Aylesbury, not Buckingham, has been the county town of Buckinghamshire
since 1725, and the county museum occupies two buildings on Church Street:
a grammar school of 1720 and the 18th century house next door. Inside,
displays cover the history, archaeology, geology and wildlife of the
county. Exhibits range from Bronze Age weapons to modern studio pottery.
Old costumes are well represented, and there is a gallery of rural life.
The Aylesbury Gallery, opened in 1985, shows aspects of past life in the
town. |
| Chenies Manor |
Off A404, in Chenies |
This brick-built manor was owned by the Russell family from the 16th
century until 1955. Earls and Dukes of Bedford, the Russells rose under
the patronage of Henry VIII and in 1526, when John Russell acquired the
estate through marriage to a rich widow, he built a whole wing at Chenies
to accommodate the monarch and his court. There is a notable 16th century
staircase, and the house makes an imposing backdrop for the gardens, noted
for their old-world flowers and species roses. |
| Chicheley Hall |
Off A422, 2 miles east of Newport Pagnell |
Chicheley Hall was built in 1719-23 for Sir John Chester, and the main
rooms contain many good examples of 18th century craftsmanship in plaster
and panelled oak. Sir John's library is ingenious: the panels are hinged,
swinging open to reveal the bookshelves hidden behind. The present owners
descend from Admiral Beatty, whose son bought Chicheley in 1952. There is
a collection of memorabilia associated with the admiral. |
| Chiltern Open-Air Museum |
Off A413, 2 miles north of Chalfont St Peter |
The collection displays buildings which reflect centuries of life in the
Chiltern area. Some have been built up from scratch, like the Iron Age and
Saxon dwellings reconstructed by enthusiasts according to archaeological
evidence from Chiltern sites. Most, though, are rescued buildings of
historical interest from elsewhere: they have been dismantled, transported
and re-erected at the open-air museum. |
| Claydon House |
Off A413, 13 miles north-west of Aylesbury |
The house has no front entrance: visitors enter by a side door in
the north wall. For although Claydon has been the home of the Verney
family since 1620, the original building was rebuilt in monumental style -
then largely demolished - in the 18th century. What survives today is only
the west wing, classically correct in its outward appearance, but missing
a formal entrance - and giving no external hint of the rococo extravagance
within. |
| Cliveden |
Off 4094, 3 miles north of Maidenhead |
Breathtaking views over the wooded reaches of the Thames are Cliveden's
supreme attraction. The first great house to command the scene was built
there in 1660 for the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and the present Italianate
building dates from 1851. It was designed by the architect Charles Barry
for the 2nd Duke of Sutherland, and later sold to the millionaire Astor
family. The house is now leased as a hotel, but the magnificent grounds
are open to the public, and parts of the house can be visited on certain
days. |
| Dorney Court |
Off B3026, 2 miles west of Eton |
The first pineapple grown in England is said to have been raised at this
Tudor manor, and presented to Charles II in 1661. The king used to come
here to visit Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine (later Duchess of
Cleveland). The house itself was built around 1440, and successive
generations of Palmers have occupied it for almost 400 years. The name
Dorney is an ancient one meaning 'Island of Bees', and the manor's small
shop sells Dorney Court honey, still made locally. |
| Hughenden Manor |
Off A4128, 2 miles north of High Wycombe |
Benjamin Disraeli first proposed to buy Hughenden in 1847, believing
that as the possible future leader of the Conservative Party he should
possess a substantial landed estate. The purchase took some time, but by
the summer of 1848 he could write to his wife: 'It is all done, you are
the Lady of Hughenden.' The house was to remain the statesman's home until
his death in 1881. Hughenden survives today much as in Disraeli's time.
Books, letters, portraits and original furnishings recall the statesman's
career, and there are many personal touches, too: locks of hair, for
example, and the black-edged writing paper which he always used after his
wife's death in 1872. |
| Jodans Quaker Meeting |
Off A40, 2 miles east of Beaconsfield |
Jordans is not the oldest surviving meeting place of the Quakers, but it
is probably the best known. For this was the burial place in 1718 of
William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. Built in 1688, the meeting house is
a simple construction of local brick overhung by a tiled roof. Inside, the
building has changed little since the 17th century. The burial ground
itself is as simple as the meeting house. Close by is the Mayflower Barn,
dating from 1624. Many of its venerable timbers are alleged to have come
from the famous Mayflower which took the Pilgrim Fathers to
America. |
| Mentmore Towers |
Off B488, 5 miles north of Tring |
With its mighty corner towers of grey-gold Ancaster stone, Mentmore is
one of Victorian architecture's fabulous shams. The mansion was built in
1855, and the style is so-called 'Jacobethan', recalling in particular the
authentic Elizabethan towers of Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire. Sir
Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace, designed the building.
Mentmore is now the national headquarters of a Transcendental Meditation
organisation , and also houses the Maharishi Ayuveda Health Centre. |
| Nether Winchendon House |
Off A418, 6 miles south-west of Aylesbury |
A medieval house with Tudor and Georgian alterations, Nether Winchendon
was once owned by the Abbey of Notley. Sir John Daunce, whose likeness
can be seen carved in a drawing room frieze, carried out much of the
Elizabethan work, and the house later passed to the Bernard family, whose
home it remains today. There is some good 18th century furniture, as well
as maps belonging to Sir Francis Bernard, who was Governor of New Jersey
and Massachusetts Bay in the 18th century. |
| Stowe |
Off A422, 4 miles north of Buckingham |
Templa Quam Dilecta - 'How delightful are thy temples!' - was the
family motto of Sir Richard Temple, who became Viscount Cobham in 1714. As
if to illustrate the text, he embellished his gardens at Stowe with a
profusion of classical temples - and pavilions, monuments, arches and
bridges. Well known now for its public school, the house at Stowe is an
imposing late 17th century building put up by Sir Richard's father. |
| Waddesdon Manor |
On A41, 6 miles west of Aylesbury |
There is nothing quite like Waddesdon elsewhere in England: it looks
like one of those 16th century French chateaux. In fact, the manor was
built in 1874-89 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. But there are many
French connections. The architect and landscape gardener were both
imported from France, and French art of the 18th century forms the heart
of the splendid collection inside. Waddesdon is one great treasure box. |
