Synopsis: An excursion to visit the home of the Chichester’s, Arlington Court, for Mum and myself.
It looked like being a nice day so I suggested to Mum we take a drive to Arlington Court. Journeying to North Devon does involve a lot of travelling time, but the road through Credition and Winkleigh is a beautiful road and which makes the journey quite a pleasure in itself. Mum was looking after my sister’s dog Jaffa, so he was bundled into the car along with our coats. Being a bit of an old codger he generally just curls up and sleeps for most of the time.
On arriving at the car park I’m a little surprised by just how busy the place looks. It was a bank holiday, but even so, they must have been having a very good day. As it was a little after noon when we arrived we decided on having lunch. The National Trust has converted the old kitchen into a refectory. There were tables outside in the sun but these were all taken, so we settled on eating inside, which was light and airy. We had typical National Trust fayre of jack potatoes which served our need.
The National Trust has produced a Virtual Tour of Arlington Court which provides a very enticing introduction to the house, and I strongly recommend viewing this prior to a visit.
Arlington Court (National Trust)The house is modest in size but still creates an impression of grandness. I get the impression that it’s very much how it’s owners left it when they left it to the National Trust in 1949. It’s easy to verify this, as a young lady painted numerous water colours of the house sometime around the 1920s and these adorn several of the walls. The only thing that seems to be missing is the cages Lady Chichester used to keep her parrots in which are clearly visible in the paintings. Apparently she would let them fly about the room which I would have thought was a little unnerving for visitors.
Azaleas in flower
After our tour of the house we returned to the car to collect Jaffa, as dogs were allowed in the grounds. We then strolled around the gardens in the sun, which was very enjoyable, and even Jaffa had a little spring in his step. The azaleas were in flower which made for quite a splash of colour. They seem to be having a good year this year.
The carriage museum
We took a little time out to visit the carriage collection which are housed in the stables appropriately enough. There are quite a variety of carriages on display, everything from the dainty little trap that Queen Victoria would use to run around her estate at Osbourne House, to carriages of state used at royal ceremonies. I guess the need to be mobile has been a constant ambition through the ages, then ingenuity of design being apparent even in these pre-industrial vehicles.
We finished our visit by circumnavigating the pond, which without doubt a much less ambitious feat to that of Sir Francis Chichester, but it left us feeling content with our day.
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