The Great Plane tree was planted in this period: it’s now thought to be the largest and oldest of its kind in Britain.
The eccentric end of a century
In 1884 Mottisfont became home to Daniel Meinertzhagen, his wife Georgina (the sister of social reformer Beatrice Webb) and their ten children. They took the house on a lease from Mrs Marianne Vaudrey-Barker-Mill, under terms that forbade electric lighting or central heating.
The Meinertzhagens entertained noted intellectuals including George Bernard Shaw and Charles Darwin. The children grew up with a whole estate as their playground.
Following their departure Mrs Vaudrey-Barker-Mill spent the equivalent of £3 million restoring Mottisfont, exposing medieval masonry. But she still refused to contemplate electric lighting.
The Russells
The arrival of the Russells made Mottisfont the centre of a fashionable artistic and political circle. Imagine the sparkle of 1930s house parties, where ‘Bright Young Things’ rubbed shoulders with writers, painters and poets.