Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey: The main facade

We met up with our friends Viv and Giles at Polesden Lacey intending to see the house and have a walk around the surrounding park. It was mostly raining however so the walk had to be abandoned. There has been a country house here since 1336, but it has several times times been rebuilt and the house you see today dates only from 1906.

You enter the estate through what once was a stable yard, now of course a plant shop and refreshment area, and follow a path down towards the house.

There is a lovely vista over the surrounding parkland.

As the rain had relented for a moment we decided to explore the gardens and headed round to the side of the house.

And then on beyond the rear elevation. The house seems to be a massive square, but there is an inner courtyard which is not apparent until you are inside.

Continuing along the path we come to a series of lovely walled gardens.

The second of these has some lovely roses.

The thirds walled area has beautiful roses and other flowers. We have read that Polesden LAcey os on the National Trust's most popular properties and we suppose that the gardens must be one of the maon attractions.

We were quite amused by this huge plant.

On the way back to the house - it is now raining again - we admire these classical statues placed against carefully cut hedges.

Entering the house you are first confronted by a large wood-paneled hall, which includes on the right the reredos from a Wren church. We soon learned that the house came into the possession of Ronald and Margaret Greville in 1906, having been bought for them by Margaret's father, William McEwan, founder of the famous brewing empire. (I remember drinking McEwan's beer as student before I saw the error of my ways and moved onto wine.)

Ronald died in 1908 and Margaret ran Polesden Lacey as a party house for the rich and famous until she gave it, in memory of her father, to the National Trust on her death in 1942. It seems that she was in fact the illegitimate daughter of her father and his housekeeper, but its doesn't seem to have held her back from being in with the rich, titled and famous.

To be honest the rooms, although spacious, are not especially exciting and one gilded one is totally over the top. The passageways around the central courtyard are rather attractive however with their Jacobean style plasterwork.

Conditions: grey and wet.

Rating: four stars. A very enjoyable day out. It would have been nice to have explored the park, but the weather did not allow it. I must say that the National Trust volunteers were especially friendly and informative.