 |
Photo gallery |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Rupert Truman
Calke Abbey is a house which turned its back on time. Little has changed here since the late 19th century, and today it offers you a vivid illustration of the English country house in decline. Visit and you'll encounter a mansion with a unique character, crammed full of extraordinary contents, hidden away in the hollow of a historic deer-park. The National Trust has preserved the house as it was found in 1985.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Andreas von Einsiedel
As you'd expect in a house where little was ever thrown away, Calke Abbey is packed with contents.
You can walk into room after room of antiquities, artworks and curiosities, such as Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe's Bedroom (above). It has been left in the state in which it was found in 1985, complete with hunting trophies, and collections of shells and fossils.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Andreas von Einsiedel
Calke Abbey is full of rarities and curiosities. By 1840, the family had collected nearly 400 cases of stuffed birds, quadrupeds and fishes at Calke. The Saloon, where you'll find these display cases, is a mini-natural history museum with exhibits ranging from a pair of golden eagles to a crocodile's skull.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Andreas von Einsiedel
'Waste not want not' was the motto in the Kitchen at Calke Abbey; so much so that it's painted on the keystone of the huge fireplace. The Kitchen was obviously run on frugal lines. After the First World War the kitchen staff dwindled to six and the Kitchen gradually fell out of use. You can see it displayed today as we found it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© Don Godfrey
The gardens at Calke Abbey offer as much to delight and fascinate as the house. Calke's vibrant walled gardens radiate with the colours and scents of bright summer borders. There's plenty more to discover, including the fragrant Physic Garden, the Orangery with its restored Peach House, and the cooling ice-house.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© Don Godfrey
In the north-west corner of the walled gardens is an alcove with tiered shelving used to display auriculas and other potted plants – possibly the last surviving auricula theatre in Britain!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Stephen Robson
As well as being beautiful, the walled gardens at Calke Abbey were expected to earn their keep. This was a working garden which supplied fruit, vegetables and flowers to the house. The gardens still provide a bountiful harvest of produce for the restaurant, and grow historical varieties of fruit and vegetables.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Mike Williams
Calke Park is the tranquil setting for Calke Abbey. This ancient landscape with its woodland and rolling fields is a National Nature Reserve with a wealth of wildlife to encounter, including green woodpeckers, deer and 20 species of butterflies. Four-hundred year-old oak trees grow at its heart, the remnants of a medieval woodland. The park is also graced by ponds, grottos and a lime tree avenue.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© David Slade
Calke Park is an ancient deer-park and this tradition is continued with an area now enclosed for a feral herd of Fallow and Red deer. There is also a large wild deer population around the estate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© David Slade
Many of the traditional methods have been kept at Calke to ensure that it remains a haven for wildlife. This includes leaving piles of wood and fallen branches in the park for dead-wood invertebrates to live on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Rupert Truman
The parish church of St Giles, situated to the south-west of Calke. The church was rebuilt in 1826, and new features included a narrow tower and embattled nave.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
© NTPL / Mark Fiennes
The State Bed, with colourful Chinese silk hangings, which probably came to Calke Abbey in 1734 with the marriage of Lady Caroline Manners and Sir Henry Harpur, 5th Baronet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
