Country Life: 1 June, 2022 Early Property Pages by julialaurencefuture

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JUNE 1, 2022

ISSUE: 22

PRINTED IN THE UK

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COLLECTORS’ ISSUE

Collectors’ issue JUNE 1, 2022

The ladybird: gardener’s friend and aphid’s enemy Jungle look: the man who made art with animals The secrets of signet rings and bookplates

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ONE FAMILY SPECIALISING IN FINE FURNITURE SINCE 1866

A fine okume veneered, ebonised, mother of pearl inlaid and Morado crossbanded sideboard, the breakfront top above three frieze drawers above a central bank of three further drawers, flanked by two mother of pearl fan medallion inlaid doors enclosing adjustable shelves, on a plinth base. Inspired by a George III original in the Neo-Classical style.

£11,760

Width: 73 inches (187.3cm) | Depth: 16¼ inches (41.9cm) | Height: 34¾ inches (88.9cm)

NATIONWIDE HOME APPROVAL SERVICE | BESPOKE COMMISSIONS UNDERTAKEN OVER 1,000 ITEMS OF EXCLUSIVE CLASSICAL FURNISHINGS IN STOCK CALL 01491 641115 | WWW.BRIGHTSOFNETTLEBED.CO.UK NETTLEBED

OXFORDSHIRE

RG9 5DD (OPEN TUES-SAT)

KING’S RD

LONDON

SW6 2DX (OPEN MON-FRI)

1 REF: CHO012182534

An impressive country house set in about 12.79 acres, in a secluded position with landscaped gardens and parkland. Spilsby 4.1 miles | Louth 12.8 miles

Guide price £2,250,000 Knight Frank London george.bramley@knightfrank.com 020 4579 2919

georgie.veale@knightfrank.com 020 4579 2593

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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GAMLINGAY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE Guide Price: £2,000,000

4 Bedrooms | 4 Reception Rooms | 4 Bathrooms | N/A EPC

A Grade II listed 18th century former Threshing Barn in a rural position on approximately 6.63 acres of formal gardens and fenced paddocks. The property has 3,605 sq. ft. of fully renovated accommodation which is centred around a triple height reception hall with an Ash staircase. A further 2,804 sq. ft. of outbuildings includes six stables, a detached garage with space for four cars, and a former Granary which has listed building consent for renovation to create additional accommodation.

Michael Graham Bedford Richard Banks 01234 220000 Michael Graham London Bob Bickersteth 0207 839 0888

michaelgraham.co.uk michaelgraham_living

1 2 3 4

REF: CIR012182655

Malmesbury, Wiltshire

A pretty Cotswold stone, edge of village country house with secondary accommodation and converted outbuildings, sitting in mature grounds. Malmesbury 1 mile | Kemble station 8 miles (London Paddington 85 minutes) | Cirencester 15 miles

Guide price £3,500,000 Knight Frank London & Cirencester peter.edwards@knightfrank.com 020 4502 8544

james.walker@knightfrank.com 01285 895776

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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Outstanding Rural Estate Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket: 2.5 miles, Cambridge: 15 miles, Central London: 70 miles The Exning Estate is an exceptional mixed country estate with an enviable mix of farming, residential, equestrian, renewable and commercial assets. The Estate comprises 61 houses and cottages including a substantial principal house, let commercial property portfolio, in hand arable farm, in hand beef enterprise, let solar farm and strategic development opportunities. The Estate is available as a going concern or a sale of property assets as a whole or in 18 lots.

About 1,776 acres | Guide £50 million

Charlie Paton Savills National Farms and Estates 07870 999 199 cpaton@savills.com

Oliver Carr Savills Eastern Farms and Estates 07808 643 274 ocarr@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Kent, Bidborough

Example Build in Brick

Computer Generated Image (Rear View in Stone)

A stunning new-build opportunity between Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells Tonbridge: 3.9 miles, Tunbridge Wells: 4.8 miles, Sevenoaks: 9 miles, Tonbridge Station to London Bridge: 32 mins. Close proximity to Tonbridge and Sevenoaks schools. Planning permission has been granted to demolish the existing house and build an impressive country home of 12,000 sq ft. designed by Octagon Developments. To include: Master suite with 2 dressing rooms | 4 Further bedroom suites | Kitchen/breakfast/day room 2 Further reception rooms | Study | Cinema | Indoor swimming pool complex with 2 changing rooms, steam room, gym, games room with bar area Underground garaging with turntable | Beautiful grounds with impressive views in every direction and natural woodland to the southwest Full fibre installed | Infrastructure for heat pump and water well installed About 24 acres

Over 50 offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Guide Price £12,500,000 (Fully Built)

Oliver Custance Baker

Andrew Harwood

Country Department 020 7591 2207

Sevenoaks Oﬃce 01732 807 279

oliver.custance.baker@struttandparker.com

andrew.harwood@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

2 3

A magnificent North Yorkshire country house in a parkland setting with an extensive range of outbuildings. Additional land and cottage available separately. Malton 7 miles | Scarborough 14 miles | York 25 miles

Lot 1 offers in excess of £2,000,000

Knight Frank London & Harrogate edward.welton@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7216

Blenkin & Co York edward.hartshorne@blenkinandco.com 01904 671672

daniel.rigg@knightfrank.com 01423 593115

knightfrank.co.uk

Your partners in property

REF: POD012211639

1 Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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An immaculate country house with beautiful gardens and grounds at the heart of a 186 acre wildlife haven and private nature reserve with conservation and amenity land. Uckfield 3 miles | Lewes 6 miles

Guide price £5,500,000

Knight Frank London & Tunbridge Wells will.matthews@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7347 simon.biddulph@knightfrank.com 01892 888494

knightfrank.co.uk

Your partners in property

REF: CHO012283776

1 Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

2 3

An impressive and handsome Grade II listed period home situated in a secluded position in the heart of the village. The property is beautifully presented and offers generous accommodation with a range of very useful outbuildings and wonderfully mature gardens. Moreton-in-Marsh 3 miles | Daylesford Farm Shop 2 miles Kingham Station (London Paddington 80 minutes) 5.5 miles

Guide price £3,250,000 Knight Frank London & Stow-on-the-Wold jamie.robson@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7203 leigh.glazebrook@knightfrank.com 01451 888130

knightfrank.co.uk

Your partners in property

REF: STW012292627

1 Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

2 3

An expansive period property on the Hook Heath escarpment with fabulous southerly views and on the market for the first time in 60 years. The 12,000 sq ft of accommodation offers excellent flexibility for both family living and entertaining and is set in outstanding gardens. Woking 2.4 miles | Guildford 5.4 miles

Guide price £3,750,000 Knight Frank London & Guildford oliver.rodbourne@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7108 tim.harriss@knightfrank.com 01483 355875

knightfrank.co.uk

Your partners in property

REF: GLD012260820

1 Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

1 2 3 4

REF: HSM012043058

Petersfield, Hampshire

A landmark family home on one of the most sought-after addresses in Petersfield town. Built we believe in the early 1930s, this property is a substantial and imposing family home, which has been meticulously and sympathetically renovated during our client's ownership. Petersfield High Street 100 yards | Petersfield Station 0.5 mile (London Waterloo 67 minutes)

Guide price £3,000,000 Knight Frank Haslemere aelish.paterson@knightfrank.com 01428 786268

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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Homes Fit for Royalty We’re celebrating 70 glorious years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Whether you’re celebrating with a street party or simply taking the time to unwind – it’s in her honour, so make the most of it! Here are four of our properties most fit for royalty. Scan the QR code below to discover more.

Everleigh, Marlborough

ve, Holmewood Driv Kirby Muxloe

Approached by a long, private driveway Everleigh Manor is one of Wiltshire’s finest country homes, with 19 bedrooms and a fascinating history. Set majestically in over 30 acres of grounds, this truly is a property fit for royalty.

me Exceptional country hom ins built in 1885 which adjoin open farmland in a private 2 acre setting less than five miles from the city. The large first floor entertainment room with bar and balcony overlooking the tennis court is perfect for entertaining guests.

EPC Exempt OIEO £6,000,000 Tel: 01672 511211

Colchester Road, Great Totham

EPC B Guide Price £3,800,000 Tel: 01509 891398

Spilsby, Lincolnshire

A magnificent seven bedroom detached home set in grounds of 2.5 acres with two detached living spaces, tennis court and stunning outdoor pool. This wonderful statement home benefits magnificent views of manicured gardens and surrounding countryside.

EPC Exempt £4,000,000 Tel: 01206 878155

This Grade II Listed Lincolnshire country house boasts 18 bedrooms and 8 acres of mature, wellmaintained grounds featuring an idyllic waterside position with its own private lake, oriental gardens, walkways and woodland.

EPC Exempt Guide Price £4,000,000 Tel: 01522 287008

Contact your local Fine & Country agent for unrivalled insight into your marketplace and a valuation of your property. Head Office 119-121 Park Lane, Mayfair, London W1K 7AG Tel: +44 20 7079 1515 parklane@fineandcountry.com fineandcountry.com

Impressive Parkland Setting Daventry, Northamptonshire Daventry: 5 miles, Northampton: 8 miles An impressive 7,998 sq ft home in a beautiful parkland setting, built in the early 1990s. 3/4 bedroom house, indoor swimming pool, triple garage, extensive range of outbuildings and equestrian facilities, landscaped gardens, lake, pasture, parkland and woodland. Available as a whole or in 3 lots. EPC = D

About 137 acres | Guide £3.6 million (Lot 1 £2.45 million) Philip Hoare Savills Central England Farms & Estates 01295 500 337 phoare@savills.com

Nicholas Rudge Savills Banbury 01295 500 331 nrudge@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Stunning Family Home Harwell, Oxfordshire Didcot Parkway: 3 miles (London Paddington from 42 minutes) Stunning Grade II listed village house. 5 reception rooms, principal bedroom suite (2 bedrooms and bathroom), 5 bedrooms (2 en suite), 2 family bathrooms, garden room, study, boot room, playroom, swimming pool, 1 bedroom barn, 3 bay car port, garden store and wood store, pond and gardens.

Guide £3.4 million Hugh Maconochie Savills London Country Department 020 4579 2890 hmaconochie @savills.com

Charles Elsmore-Wickens Savills Summertown 01865 521 591 cewickens@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Outstanding Rural Setting North End, North Hampshire Newbury Station: 5 miles (London Paddington from 45 minutes) A wonderfully presented newly built family house set on the edge of a village, for sale or to rent. 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, garage with studio and shower above, outbuilding, garden and grounds. EPC = B

About 7.81 acres | Guide £4 million or £10,000 pcm + fees apply* Liz McLean Savills Newbury Sales 01635 598 753 liz.mclean@savills.com

Gordon Hood Savills Reading Lettings 01182 175 168 gordon.hood@savills.com

savills *For details of our tenant fees and charges visit savills.co.uk/tenant-fees, or if you’re a Landlord please visit savills.co.uk/landlord-fees. All facts are correct at time of print - May 2022.

savills.co.uk

Beautiful Farmhouse Coombe Bissett, Salisbury Salisbury: 5.4 miles Wonderfully refurbished Grade II listed family home with amazing views over the Cranborne Chase. 3 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, detached 1 bedroom annexe with garage, triple garage with studio/gym above, workshop, barn, wide lawns and paddocks.

About 7.3 acres I Guide £1.95 million James McKillop Savills Salisbury 01722 638 770 james.mckillop @savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Gloucestershire, Evenlode

An immaculate contemporary home with 2-bedroom cottage, flat and extensive outbuildings, set in beautiful landscaped gardens on the edge of the village Moreton-in-Marsh: 3 miles, Daylesford Organic: 3 miles, Stow-on-the-Wold: 3.5 miles, Kingham Station: 6 miles (London Paddington from 87 minutes), Oxford: 29 miles 4 Reception rooms | Kitchen/breakfast room with pantry | Utility room | Cloakroom | 5 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms | Large attic room with potential | 2-Bedroom cottage | Garage with flat above | Yoga room/office 3 Stables and storage | Garden | Paddock | Swimming pool | EPC Rating C About 6.6 acres

Over 50 offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Guide Price £5,600,000

Oliver Custance Baker

Simon Merton

Country Department 020 7591 2207

Moreton-in-Marsh Office 01608 638 731

oliver.custance.baker@struttandparker.com

simon.merton@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Built in 1877 and available for the first time on the open market. One of Fowey's landmark houses, occupying what is arguably the finest position in the town, with commanding views across the harbour and out to sea. Grade II listed, offering well proportioned rooms with accommodation arranged over four floors, 5 bedrooms, 4 reception rooms, large terraced gardens, private gated off road parking for 4/5 cars and a private gate to Whitehouse Beach. Royal Fowey Yacht Club 200 yards, Bodmin (A30) 12 miles, Par Station (main line) 5 miles, Newquay Airport 22 miles. Guide £4m 01326 617447

jonathancunliffe.co.uk

Fowey, South Cornwall

JONATHAN CUNLIFFE

HELFORD PASSAGE, SOUTH CORNWALL Helford Passage beach. Mawnan Smith 1½ miles, Falmouth 6 miles, Truro 16 miles (mainline station to London Paddington - 4½ hours), Cornwall Airport Newquay 28 miles – all distances/times approximate.

In a supremely beautiful and unspoilt ‘world class’ frontline setting directly above the beach, commanding the most sensational panoramic vista of the legendary Helford River, a remarkable, impeccably appointed apartment – redesigned, significantly extended and meticulously detailed under architect supervision, facing south with large balcony terrace and car parking. L-shaped reception hall, living/dining/kitchen with ‘wall of glass’ onto balcony terrace, 3 double bedrooms (2 en-suite shower rooms), family shower room, utility. Outside: large very private south facing balcony terrace with electric awning commanding surely the best views of Helford Passage. Parking for 1 vehicle. Offers over £1,350,000

Leasehold (962 years remaining) www.lillicrapchilcott.com

| 01872 273473 |

Sole Agent sales@lillicrapchilcott.com

CHAPEL PORTH, ST AGNES, CORNWALL Chapel Porth. Chapel Porth beach (National Trust) ½ mile, St Agnes 1 mile, A30 4 miles, Truro 9 miles (mainline station to London Paddington - 4½ hours), Cornwall Airport Newquay 28 miles – all distances/times approximate.

Nestled at the end of its long winding driveway off the lane to a beautiful National Trust beach, a spectacular detached near coastal ‘hidden’ period and contemporary residence (over 3,000sq.ft.), meticulously appointed, in 4¾ acres of stunning valley gardens and grounds – tranquillity, privacy, paradise, eden ….. Entrance hall, 23’ x 17’ kitchen/dining room, utility, larder. 3 bedrooms, 2 shower rooms. First Floor: 28’ x 25’ spectacular living room with three Juliet balconies, principal bedroom suite with closets and en-suite bath/shower room. Outside: two vehicular entrances, winding driveway, oak car barn, garage, old outbuildings. Exquisite hillside gardens planted with many rare species over a 60 year period, 1 acre paddock. 15 minute walk along National Trust footpath to National Trust beach. In all, about 4¾ acres. Offers over £2,250,000

Freehold www.lillicrapchilcott.com

| 01872 273473 |

Sole Agent sales@lillicrapchilcott.com

This is the life.

Is it Yours?

Luxury Portfolio International® has some of the most diverse luxury real estate listings in the world. Let our exclusive network of well-connected, locally tuned brokers and agents find your next home.

luxuryportfolio.com @LUXURYPORTFOLIO

Your indispensable guide to the capital ON THE FACE OF IT Although several major London stores have closed their doors forever in recent months, Harrods sails regally on, a monolithic presence on the Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. As one of Europe’s largest luxury department stores, it has long been a destination, but the vast terracotta frontage generally plays second fiddle to the glittering contents of its display halls and the question of whether they live up to the Harrods motto ‘Omnia, Omnibus, Ubique’ (‘Everything for Everyone, Everywhere’). Recently, however, Make Architects completed the initial stage of the first major refurbishment on the façade in 80 years, giving cause to pause before passing through the portals. Harrods’s origins date back to the mid 19th century, but the bulk of the present building went up in 1901–05, to the designs of architect C. W. Stevens, although it has been much altered. Now, using archive information, the Edwardian Baroque features of the main Brompton Road entrance areas, such as curved windows and hand-laid mosaic flooring, have been reinstated, together with timber doors, the lost tracery detailing of which has been restored. New Victorianstyle awnings offer ‘a piece of urban theatre’ as they roll out and retract to coincide with opening and closing hours. Tom Ayres, project architect, explains: ‘The design intention was to strengthen the authentic aesthetic and historic value of the façades of this London landmark.’

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LONDON LIFE

News

Make yourself at home

HE most expensive—and arguably most impressive —property inside the Chelsea Barracks development is on the market for £58 million. The Whistler Square townhouse, which is one of 13 newbuild, Georgian-style properties, spans 14,956sq ft across the main house and a private mews house. There are seven bedrooms, passenger and service lifts, a garden, various reception rooms and a study.

Hot table

The new 710-apartment Chelsea Waterfront development enjoys spectacular views

WINDOW on the Thames once again ranks highly on the wishlist of London property buyers. After a lockdown dip, the capital’s waterside market is bouncing back, according to new research by Knight Frank. Waterside buyers increased by 138% in 2021, compared with 2020, and, in the last quarter of the year, this translated into a 10% premium over similar properties far from the river or the canals. ‘Despite the recent rebalancing of values across some London markets, the premium buyers are willing to pay to be by the water,’ says Christopher Jones of Knight Frank. ‘This drive for outside space goes much further than larger private spaces; there is now a real desire from most buyers to be within easy reach of parks and, of course, the riverside.’ Agents expect this trend to continue in 2022. ‘Sentiment among buyers is high at the upper end of the market and this

is something we’d expect to see continue with the return of international buyers and the warmer summer months ahead— particularly [for] best-in-class properties,’ explains Mayow Short of Savills Waterfront. Among the developments set to see good interest is Chelsea Waterfront, a collection of 710 apartments split across 10 buildings close to the Lots Road Power Station. Designed by Sir Terry Farrell, it will include the tallest residential tower in SW10 —clocking in at 37 storeys—and, across the Chelsea Creek, a complementary 25storey tower. Both buildings promise fine views of the Thames, with the added draw of immediate access to the riverside walks. ‘We have seen buyers come out of big apartments in areas such as Knightsbridge to be near the river and enjoy all that living in a modern home has to offer,’ says Knight Frank’s Mr Jones. ‘This increased domestic demand is all down to location and lifestyle offering of the water’s edge.’ CP

Alex Winship; David Loftus; John Carey; Alamy

I live by the river

HIS month, Thomas Straker—best known for his viral cooking videos—opens his first restaurant on Notting Hill’s Golborne Road, W10 (www.thomasstraker.com). The menu promises to draw on Mr Straker’s childhood, spent on a smallholding in Herefordshire: wild, seasonal and simple; the open kitchen only supplied by trusted, small-scale suppliers, such as Huntsham Court Farm. ‘For me, it’s all about using the best produce,’ explains the chef and now restaurateur, ‘so although the menu will be uncomplicated and unfussy, the techniques used in the kitchen have been carefully considered to really ensure each ingredient has its moment in the spotlight.’

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News

LONDON LIFE

10,000

The number of second-edition Central London Footway maps being distributed to Network Rail train stations this month, in a bid to get Londoners and tourists walking more

The future looks green Shiny new Shoreditch

NE HUNDRED SHOREDITCH has now opened its doors on the site of what was Ace Hotel London Shoreditch, E1, bringing a newly grown-up vibe to the high street of one of the capital’s edgier neighbourhoods (020–7613 9800; www. onehundredshoreditch.com). The addition of oriel windows lends drama to the façade, as well as flooding the rooms with light, and multiple food and beverage offerings—including Goddard & Gibbs seafood restaurant, Seed Library cocktail bar and a coffee shop—have proven popular with locals since the March opening, as has a co-working space nestled among wooden totems in the lobby. The Rooftop bar and terrace is also open to the public, with

Alex Winship; David Loftus; John Carey; Alamy

Pass go, and go straight to supper

ROWN’S HOTEL in Mayfair, W1, has announced a new, weekly Supper Club venture, celebrating British food and drink. The two-course dinners are available to book now and run from Thursday to Sunday, with regular games nights and live music to boot. The hotel’s chef director, Adam Byatt, is behind the menu, a nod to comfort food. Think soft-boiled eggs with caviar soldiers and Welsh rarebit. Drinks will be served from a trolley. Visit www.roccofortehotels. com/hotels-and-resorts/brown-s-hotel/ dining/supper-club/ for more information.

accessibility high on the hotel’s agenda. The 258 bedrooms and suites, done in neutral shades, are tranquil spaces that offer respite from the bustling vibrancy downstairs and outside—whereas The One Hundred Room, an event space with floor-to-ceiling windows, provides the wow factor. The rejuvenation of the neighbourhood doesn’t stop there, with the new Hart Shoreditch, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton (020–3995 3655; www.hartshoreditch. com), and wine bar-cum-Lebanese restaurant Sohaila (020–7209 3065; www.sohaila restaurant.com), plus a £2 million transformation of Shoreditch Park, to include a beach-volleyball court and other sporting facilities, in the pipeline. VM

GROUP of rewilding experts has revealed its plans to encourage Nature back into the outskirts of the capital. Some of the suggestions include designating certain areas as nature reserves, creating micro-parks and turning slivers of the Thames estuary into wetlands—all connected by ‘Nature corridors’ that will run parallel to train lines and across brownfield sites. Proposed sites include Ealing, Croydon and Enfield. The idea to create such a group came from Ben Goldsmith, who sits on the board for Defra, and the plans were commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

LONDON LIFE Editor Rosie Paterson Editor-in-chief Mark Hedges Sub-editors Octavia Pollock, James Fisher Art Heather Clark, Emma Earnshaw, Ben Harris, Dean Usher Pictures Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson Advertising Katie Ruocco 07929 364909 Email firstname.surname@futurenet.com

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1 REF: RCH012148942 2

An exceptional period property with views of the River Thames and direct access to the towpath. The property is arranged over four floors and provides luxurious accommodation throughout. 0.5 miles to Richmond train station

Guide price £4,750,000 Knight Frank Richmond james.williams@knightfrank.com 020 3797 3442

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

Your partners in property

1 2

3 REF: PCL012150905

Chiswick Mall, Chiswick W4 8 bedrooms | 4 bathrooms | Reception room | Garden

One of the finest and most interesting Grade I listed Georgian residences in London that provides glorious river views. The property is located in a truly magical and unique location on Chiswick Mall, within the Old Chiswick Conservation area. 1.6 miles to Chiswick Overground Train Station | 6 miles to Central London | 10.5 miles to Heathrow Airport

Guide price £18,500,000 Knight Frank Chiswick paul.westwood@knightfrank.com 020 4502 8966

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

Your partners in property

LONDON LIFE

On foot

Walk between the lines Illustrated by Fred van Deelen

36 | Country Life | June 1, 2022

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On foot Carla Passino walks from King’s Cross to Covent Garden, via Bloomsbury, in search of London’s literary connections

ANDS a-waving, an excited queue snakes across King’s Cross station, clamouring for a chance to push a trunk-laden trolley through the brick wall of Platform 9¾. The din is such that Harry Potter wouldn’t have had any problem finding the train to Hogwarts. With a pen stroke, J. K. Rowling turned King’s Cross—the station she was travelling to when she first had the idea for the wizarding series—into the latest in the crown of literary jewels that stud this slice of London. The title once belonged to the British Library, which, with more than 25 million books, is an ideal bridge between the Potter universe and the Victorian and Edwardian greats that made their home between King’s Cross and Covent Garden. The library’s own history is as gripping as any novel: when constructing it, architects Sir Colin St John Wilson and M. J. Long had to contend with rising costs, shrinking funds, public controversy and indifferent, even hostile, governments—tellingly, Wilson described the torturous process as ‘my Thirty Years War’. If the building, all angles and asymmetric lines, has a Marmite quality that belies its Grade I listing, the interior is a thing of beauty, the escalators ascending to a wall of ancient tomes, tempting the occasional visitor to sit on the book-shaped bench at the entrance and soak up the view of culture in the flesh. Nevertheless, the maze of pretty Georgian streets south of the library beckons, promising an open-air Who’s Who of British literature. Here, in what was then an ‘unsalubrious alley’ and is now pretty Woburn Walk, lived for a time W. B. Yeats: the only man of letters for miles, he quickly acquired the nickname of ‘toff what lives in the Buildings’. There, in a Marchmont Street house long since demolished, not far from the St Pancras graveyard where they had first met clandestinely, Percy and Mary Shelley stayed in the brief interlude between their 1814 elopement and the 1818 move to Italy. Around the corner, at 32, Tavistock Place, two doors down and 20 years apart from where Vladimir Lenin would find refuge in

LONDON LIFE

his exile, a young Jerome K. Jerome rented lodgings in an understated Georgian building ‘handy for the British Museum reading room’: he later turned the surrounding streets into the setting for the unfortunate Biggles’s attempts to foist an accursed goose onto a drunken ruffian and a half-starved child in The Man Who Did Not Believe in Luck. Although Bloomsbury had long been the neighbourhood of choice for law professionals (LONDON L IFE , December 1, 2021), by the time Jerome moved there some of its buildings had become boarding houses harbouring ‘a floating population of 1,000 persons… who hired their beds for the night’, according to Edward Walford’s Old and New London. This varied humanity became part of the area’s appeal for Virginia Woolf, who, in 1904, moved with siblings Vanessa, Thoby and Adrian Stephen to 46, Gordon Square, a brick and stucco house later home to John Maynard Keynes. She recalled Gordon Square as ‘the most beautiful, the most exciting, the most romantic place in the world’, alive with light, trees, the roar of traffic and an unconventional crowd: ‘Old characters, sinister, strange, prowled and slunk past our windows.’ Soon, keen minds such as Clive Bell, Saxon SydneyTurner and Lytton Strachey began visiting the Stephens, ‘[folding] themselves up quietly in the corners of the sofas’ in a room full of smoke, buns, coffee and whisky—and the Bloomsbury Group was born. Together, they explored art or the nature of truth, ‘stone after intellectual stone’ piled up so accurately that ‘one had glimpses of something miraculous happening high up in the air’. Although Woolf revelled in the excitement of her bohemian surroundings, the group’s yearning for change was rooted in its desire to reject upper-class mores and forge a new lifestyle. They revolutionised Britain’s culture, but left the door open to criticism that their free spirit was steeped in privilege. By contrast, London’s social contradictions imbued the work of another Bloomsbury resident— Charles Dickens. In his books, says Cindy Sughrue, director of the Dickens Museum in Doughty Street, ‘you get the sense of people living cheek by jowl, the poor and criminal underbelly and the rich and powerful’. The house at 48, Doughty Street—where he wrote Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby—was the perfect base from which Dickens, an indefatigable walker, could seek inspiration in places such as the Foundling Hospital and Oliver Twist’s

‘They revolutionised Britain’s culture, but left the door open to criticism’

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LONDON LIFE

On foot

Saffron Hill underworld. But his imagination was also fuelled by his own brush with childhood poverty. A grille from Marshalsea’s debtors’ prison on the museum’s top floor is a powerful reminder of the author’s troubled background, in what otherwise looks every inch the middle-class Victorian home. ‘He experienced poverty in all its forms. There’s a little bit of Dickens in everything he wrote.’ Dickens’s orphans meet Miss Rowling’s in the Bloomsbury Publishing catalogue. Now headquartered in an august Bedford Square building, the company had been relatively young when Miss Rowling’s agent approached it with a wizarding tale that had been rejected by 12 publishers. They agreed to publish 500 copies—and the rest is history. Perhaps it’s because of the proximity with Bloomsbury Publishing, but several streets within 15 minutes’ walk of Bedford Square have since turned into prime sorcerer country, whether at Wardour Street, where the House of MinaLima gallery sells replicas of the Potter props they made, or Greek Street, where aspiring magicians can mix their own ‘potions’ at The Wands and Wizard Exploratorium and sample those made by the potion masters themselves. In Shaftesbury Avenue, the Palace Theatre stages Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, touted as ‘the most awarded play in

history’, and, in Wellington Street, the London Film Museum is hosting ‘Harry Potter on Location’, a photographic cavalcade through the cinematic version of the series. In between them, however, are many little keyholes into earlier British literature. There’s Long Acre, where Sherlock Holmes sent Dr Watson ‘down to Stanfords’ to buy a map of Dartmoor in The Hound of the Baskervilles. The travel store has since moved to a modern building on Mercer Walk, but its map collection —thought to be the world’s largest—remains the stuff of legends: it literally saved Stanfords in 1941, when the stacks helped reduce the damage caused by an incendiary bomb.

‘ In Bow Street, “all the wits of town” congregated at Will’s Coffee House ’ In Bow Street, ‘all the wits of town’ congregated at Will’s Coffee House in the 17th century for ‘pleasant discourse’, according to Pepys, although its star had dimmed by the time Henry Fielding, the author of The History of Tom Jones, who was also a magistrate, founded the Bow Street Runners in 1749 with

his blind half-brother, John (who identified criminals by their voice). Britain’s first organised police force inevitably became literary fodder, inspiring Derek Lambert’s Georgian Bond, Edmund Blackstone. But the Bow Street police also has a bleaker literary link: Oscar Wilde, accused of homosexuality, spent a night at the station in 1895 (former cells are open to visitors at the Police Museum). As Bow Street became synonymous with policing, the mantle of literary meeting place passed to Russell Street—specifically Button’s Coffee House (a favourite of Pope’s) and the bookshop of Tom Davis, who liked to gather great minds in his back parlour. It was at Davis’s (now Balthazar) that a trepidant James Boswell met Samuel Johnson for the first time in 1763: introduced as a Scot, a people Johnson was known to dislike, Boswell quipped that he couldn’t help it—to which Johnson retorted: ‘That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.’ Johnson, a quintessential Londoner despite having been born in Staffordshire, was the man that saw most clearly the city’s extraordinary power to nurture the mind. As he put it: ‘Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.’

At home in Literary London

Woburn Walk, £1.85 million Channel W. B. Yeats in a whitewashed Georgian house in Woburn Walk, long since turned into one of London’s prettiest corners. Designed by Thomas Cubitt and listed Grade II*, it has a living room with feature fireplace, Juliet balcony and original shutters, a bespoke kitchen, two bedrooms and a west-facing terrace. Dexters (020–7833 4466)

Doughty Street, £4.5 million This Grade II-listed house is close to Dickens’s home. The layout has been modernised, with an open-plan kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, main reception room and bedroom on the first floor and three more bedrooms upstairs. There’s also a roof terrace and a self-contained apartment. Savills (020–7253 2533)

Neal’s Yard, £3.99995 million It’s hard to find a property with a better location than this 2,331sq ft penthouse flat on the second floor of a converted warehouse in postcard-pretty Neal’s Yard. It has a glorious, light-flooded living and dining area, separate kitchen/ study area, two bedrooms, a sauna and two different roof terraces. Knight Frank (020–7647 6615)

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LONSDALE SQUARE, N1 £5,500,000

FREEHOLD

[5 bedrooms] [3 bathrooms] [3 reception rooms] An imposing Grade II listed Victorian house extending to 3,300 sq ft and arranged over five floors with leafy views across the Square, located in a Conservation area. The property benefits from fantastic natural light and has a south facing garden to the rear. 020 3740 8638 ISLINGTON@HAMPTONS.CO.UK

HAMPTONS.CO.UK

LONDON LIFE

The great and the good

Seasonal suggestions

Head to the Tower of London for Superbloom (above), a spectacular wildflower display (20 million seeds in total) from June 1–September 18 in honour of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (https://superbloom.hrp.org. uk). Take part in the non-competitive Camden Clean Air Cycle Ride on June 12, which begins and ends in Granary Square, N1 (www. kingscross.co.uk/event). Explore the Royal Academy of Arts’s Summer Exhibition from June 21 (www.royalacademy.org.uk). And pick up a last-minute ticket to the Triomphale at St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Symphony Orchestra’s much anticipated gala concert and dinner, on June 23 (www.lso.co.uk/whats-on).

Here’s looking at The All-England Championships, Wimbledon

• Wimbledon, held in late June to early July, is one of four annual Grand Slam tennis tournaments—the Australian, French and US Opens are the other three—and the only one still played on natural grass. The first Wimbledon Championships, solely for men, was held in 1877, with women permitted to play from 1884 onwards • The championships were originally only open to amateurs and it wasn’t until 1968 that professional players were allowed to compete—the same year that Rod Laver of Australia and Billie Jean King of the US won the men’s and women’s singles, respectively • The inaugural final attracted 200 spectators. By the early 1880s, the crowd for the later stages of the championship numbered 3,000 and, in 2019, the overall attendance was more than half a million people. Centre Court alone can accommodate 14,979 spectators • The event was first covered on television by the BBC in 1937, albeit to a small audience within a 40-mile radius of the channel’s transmitters in north London. Daily transmission time was limited to 30 minutes, but the picture quality must have been good because, the following day, The Daily Telegraph reported that ‘the marks of the lawnmower over the grass were distinctly visible’ • The Queen has only attended Wimbledon four times: in 1957, 1962, 1977, the year of her Silver Jubilee, and 2010, when she watched Andy Murray triumph over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen

Shop of the month

La Coqueta

6 1, L E D B U R Y R O A D , W 11

Open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm, Sunday, 11am to 5pm (020–7221 6496; www.lacoquetakids.com)

HEN Celia Muñoz opened her first La Coqueta store in Hampstead in 2013—a shop specialising in nostalgic children’s clothing manufactured in her native Spain—the mother of five was still bringing up her young family. ‘I worked most days in the store with the children in a playroom in the back,’ says Mrs Muñoz. Happily, the appetite among local parents for hand-smocked rompers and Peter Pan collars was on the up, helped by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who have dressed all three of their children in La Coqueta. The flagship shop is now in Notting Hill, next door to Melt Chocolates (‘which makes the most divine handmade chocolates and coffee’). Inside, rib-knit jumpers with wooden buttons at the shoulder and pink cashmere onesies with pie-frill collars hang against beadboard walls, as the staff wait on customers behind a glass counter with rainbow collections of tights and socks tucked beneath. Jo Rodgers

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Alamy

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The great and the good

LONDON LIFE

M Y P L AT E O F V I E W

Caravel, 172, Shepherdess Walk, N1

A green space PO S TM A N ’S PA RK , K I N G E D WA R D S T R E E T, E C 1

OCKETED between St Martin’s Le Grand and King Edward Street, this charming little park comprises three former churchyards —St Leonard, St Botolph and Christchurch— and various tombstones mark out the perimeter. The planting is best described as verdant: banks of hostas, hydrangeas, tree ferns, a fine handkerchief tree and some pretty bedding at the centre, but the chief attraction is George Frederic Watts’s moving Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. A series of beautiful ceramic plaques, some of them by William De Morgan,

commemorate 62 brave souls who died saving the lives of others. Once favoured by staff at the nearby, former General Post Office—hence the name—it’s a lovely spot to relax and reflect. Natasha Goodfellow is the author of ‘A London Floral’ and ‘A Cotswold Garden Companion’, out now (www.finchpublishing.co.uk)

Psst... pass it on

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Alamy

KEEN swimmer? There’s an openwater swimming spot in London that attracts a fraction of the numbers when compared with places such as Hampstead Ponds. The 23-acre West Reservoir in Stoke Newington, N4, is typically only open to experienced open-water swimmers, but courses for beginners are now available (www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/ london/hackney/west-reservoir-centre)

London curiosities ON THE FACE OF IT

HIS porch on Queen Street Place, EC4, is all that remains of a 1927 office block called Vintry House by Kersey, Gale and Spooner. The sculpture of a bacchante with goats and doves is by Herbert W. Palliser. Note the flanking carvings of swans.

For me, the Regent’s Canal will always be London’s best-kept secret—an eight-mile nature reserve full of surprises. There are plenty of delightful places to eat along it: Towpath café near Haggerston and Barrafina in Coal Drops Yard, to name only two. Now, there’s somewhere on it: Caravel. Brothers Fin and Lorcan Spiteri took over a former working canal barge moored near Old Street during lockdown and have turned it into a 40-cover restaurant. We visit after the clocks go forward, on what feels like the first real day of spring. The barge formerly known as Poppy is stationed at the end of a pontoon, but once you’re down the steps it’s easy to forget you’re on a boat: Caravel has been beautifully tricked out with polished floorboards, starched tablecloths and dinky brass lamps. The Spiteris are a foodie family: the brothers’ father, Jon, is the co-founder of St John and their mother is Melanie Arnold, one half of Rochelle Canteen. When you hear the menu at Caravel is inspired by childhood favourites, therefore, you know they weren’t thinking of plates of Smash and Saturdaynight Vienettas. Potato rosti, greaselessly golden and twice the size you’d expect, come topped with sour cream and caviar: an absolute steal at £6.50. There are chunky, generously filled triangles of sesame prawn toast, a kind of confit duck rissole (shaped like a duck) with wild-garlic aioli, and a transcendently good dish of white crab and fennel tagliatelle. Between that, a sprightly pea risotto and the excellent, very keenly priced wine list, we only just about managed to make space for the caramelised banana and almond tart. Right now, Caravel feels like a best-kept secret, but it won’t stay like that for long—although it opened quietly in March, it’s already making waves (sorry). Emma Hughes

June 1, 2022 | Country Life | 41

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Beautiful Spacious Pimlico Flat St. George’s Square, London, SW1V Pimlico: 0.2 miles, Victoria: 0.8 miles Laterally arranged over upper floors of a beautiful period building with views over a garden square. Reception room, principal en suite bedroom with built in wardrobes, 2 further double bedrooms, 2 further bathrooms. EPC = D

Leasehold, approximately 169 years remaining | 1,482 sq ft | Guide £1.85 million Laura Wilcox–Chandley Savills Westminster and Pimlico 020 4579 6203 laura.wilcoxchandley@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Beautiful Georgian House Bromfield Street, London, N1 Angel Underground Station: 0.2 miles This handsome Grade II listed house is located in the heart of Angel and set over four floors. 2 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and private garden.

Freehold | 1,756 sq ft | Guide £2.25 million

Paul Williams Savills Islington 020 4579 2703 pwiliams@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

LONDON LIFE

Access all areas On June 11 and 12, hundreds of private and hidden gardens will open their gates to the public for London Square Open Gardens Weekend. Natasha Goodfellow enjoys a preview

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LONDON LIFE

EGULAR visitors to Bloomsbury may have noticed a particularly fine pair of wrought-iron gates set between 20 and 21, Montague Street, WC1. Emblazoned with the Duke of Bedford’s crest (he owns much of the land around these parts) and topped with some gloriously exuberant gilded lilies, they mark the entrance to Montague Street Gardens —although little can be seen of the oasis within. That all changes later this month, when the gardens, together with more than 100 other private and hidden spaces, will open for London Square Open Gardens Weekend, a rare opportunity to explore some of the capital’s secret Edens. The open weekend dates back to 1999 and the opening of a handful of private residents’ squares. Under the aegis of the London Historic Parks & Gardens Trust—more commonly known as the London Gardens Trust (LGT) —it has grown into one of the capital’s bestloved events, attracting crowds in their thousands. A single ticket gives you access to as many gardens as you can physically manage in a day—community allotments, wildlife havens, rooftop plots, contemporary gardens and more. ‘There’s something for everyone,’ says Nathan Oley, chair of the event and a trustee of the LGT. ‘We have passionate amateur growers raising tomatoes in tins and rice bags, alongside gardens of real horticultural excellence, such as Mona’s Garden in Highgate, N10, which is home to [the National Plant Collection of] corokias.’ The weekend, the first live event since 2019, is sponsored by residential developer London Square (which is itself inspired by London’s historic squares and committed to the provision of attractive green space), something all involved are immensely grateful for. ‘It’s the cornerstone event for our fundraising,’ says LGT director Helen Monger, explaining that a proportion of the ticket sales goes back to the community gardens involved (many of which also run plant or cake sales or other activities over the weekend), whereas the rest is channelled into the LGT’s work in documenting and providing evidence of community interest or historical importance in London’s parks and gardens. ‘In turn, this plays a vital role in us fighting to defend gardens, should unprepossessing development proposals come up,’ she says. She cites as an example a current campaign led by the Garden Museum, fighting a high-rise development in Lambeth that threatens to reduce the light to a public park neighbouring the museum to a measly two hours a day at the equinoxes, something considered perfectly acceptable under current planning policy.

Lincoln’s Inn (above) has beautiful gardens to explore, with a host of hydrangeas (left)

‘We have passionate amateur growers raising tomatoes in rice bags, alongside gardens of real horticultural excellence’

The garden that perhaps best epitomises the preservation aspect of the LGT’s work is Eccleston Square, Victoria, SW1, which was saved from development in the 1980s by local resident and garden manager the late Roger Phillips who, in so doing, inspired the founding of the LGT. Designed in 1828 by Thomas Cubitt (1788–1855) on the site of a market garden, the square has historic, community and horticultural interest in spades. Now, it is all delightful lush lawns, masses of roses, romantic, camellia-fringed walkways and a sprinkling of more exotic plants, including clianthus or parrot’s beak from New Zealand, Deppea splendens (native to Mexico and now extinct in the wild) and spikes of the prehistoriclooking lancewood, Pseudopanax crassifolius. Beyond its fundraising objectives, the weekend also has a wider aim of seeking to connect more people with the open spaces around them. ‘It’s surprising how many people visit a garden and tell us they only live a few hundred yards away, but they’d never known it was there,’ says Mr Oley. ‘But as well as celebrating the green spaces we have, we really want to broaden access and encourage everyone to come out and explore. We give free tickets to communities who may not otherwise be able to visit. Gardening is a great leveller and everyone is welcome.’ June 1, 2022 | Country Life | 45

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LONDON LIFE

pears, wild garlic and elderflowers, not to mention a 70ft vineyard of 26 vines that sprawls the width of the car park. If edible gardens are your thing, there are several other inspiring examples to explore, including Nomura, EC4, where a sixth-storey roof garden offers superb views across the river to the Shard; and the chemical-free rooftop garden at homelessness charity The Passage, SW1, designed by Adam Frost of the BBC’s Gardeners’ World.

‘The Pembridge Square garden fell into disrepair. Now, a visit there is a journey of discovery’ In Holborn, Lincoln’s Inn—this year celebrating its 600th anniversary—is one of the few gardens that’s generally open to the public (on weekdays), although not many people know that it is. A stone’s throw from crowded Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2, the area offers

Nomura’s sixth-storey edible roof garden is a source of inspiration

a range of beautiful gardens to explore, surrounded by architecture running the gamut from Elizabethan to contemporary (don’t miss the chapel’s extraordinary vaulted undercroft). There’s a woodland-style garden awash with ferns and choice trees and shrubs including Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lanarth White’ and Amelanchier lamarckii; a terrace of hardy palms; and the new Benchers’ Border filled with perennials and grasses in terracotta shades to complement the red brick of the Great Hall behind it. Pam Yianni is one of the few locals to have discovered the charms of the North Lawn border and often drops in on sunny days to sit awhile and enjoy the peace and quiet. ‘I only have a balcony at home,’ she says. ‘To be able to come somewhere like this, it gives me energy, joy, happiness. It’s everything.’ London Square Open Gardens Weekend is on June 11 and 12; to book tickets, visit www.londongardenstrust.org

The Bedford Estates; Stephanie Stephenson; Miranda Kimberley; Alamy; Getty

One of the most consistently popular gardens is Pembridge Square, Notting Hill, W2, which dates back to the 1850s and was originally designed as a place where residents could promenade in full view of hoi polloi outside the railings. As with many garden squares, these railings were requisitioned for the Second World War and, afterwards, the space fell into disrepair. When the garden committee decided to take it on some 13 years ago, it was little more than a windswept lawn with a perimeter path. Now, a visit there is a journey of discovery, from the woodland and wildflowers at the east end to the pretty circular rose garden in the west, via beautiful herbaceous borders, a tropical garden and, to the delight of resident and visiting children, a hornbeam maze and igloo nestling between undulating yew hedges. At the other end of the scale is the permaculture forest garden created on a strip of wasteland behind the Alara Wholefoods factory (the first zero-waste food manufacturer in the world) in King’s Cross, WC1. Made from recycled and donated materials and run entirely by volunteers, this is now home to more than 80 different crops, including greengages, figs, Japanese wineberries, Asian 46 | Country Life | June 1, 2022

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ST MARYS GROVE, N1 £5,500,000

FREEHOLD

[6 bedrooms] [4 bathrooms] [off street parking] [green house] A imposing early Victorian semi detached family home offering 4,000 sq ft of accommodation across five floors. The property has been sympathetically restored retaining period features and there is an east facing c. 75’ landscaped rear garden. EPC D 020 3740 8638

ISLINGTON@HAMPTONS.CO.UK

HAMPTONS.CO.UK

LONDON LIFE

Has Royal Ascot become a regular fixture for you? It’s the third time I’ve done it in four years. This time, I’m in the Royal Enclosure restaurant, the Sandringham—they’re all named after royal residences. We’re doing a mix of a buffet and an à la carte menu. The à la carte is probably a bit closer to what we do at Hide (85, Piccadilly, W1), so a little more gastronomic. On the buffet, which is more my style —light, fresh, healthy—we’re doing a charred organic salmon rolled in lemon zest and herbs served with a horseradish buttermilk. Or you could have lamb from the royal estate nearby; we’re doing some leg and cutlets, with violet mustard and za’atar.

You recently moved from central London to Holland Park. How are you finding it? I thought I’d miss living centrally more than I do—we were in Covent Garden and, before that, Fitzrovia. Just after I set up my first restaurant [Dabbous, in Whitfield Street, W1, in 2012], I moved as close as I could to it. But we got to the stage of needing more space and a level of decompression you don’t get when you’re in the thick of things. Holland Park is a lovely area; we’re getting our place done up at the moment. It’s a classic white-stuccoed maisonette. There’s lots for the kids to do, too [Rafael, age three, and one-year-old Rocco]. I’m hoping to start hitting a tennis ball with our eldest soon. There are several

‘There are several peacocks in Holland Park. One, randomly, is called Kevin’

T H E C A P I TA L A C C O R D I N G T O ...

Ollie Dabbous

The Michelin-starred chef-patron of Hide talks to Flora Watkins about cooking up a storm for Royal Ascot and why Holland Park is home

peacocks in the park; one of them, randomly, is called Kevin—the last name you’d expect a peacock to have!—so whenever we go there, that’s who Rafael wants to see. Where do you shop locally? There are some great shops on the Avenue; Supermarket of Dreams (126, Holland Park Avenue, W11) is a deli, Lidgate the butchers is there, too (110, Holland Park Avenue, W11). There’s a neighbourhood restaurant off the Avenue called Six Portland Road with a modern British menu, full of things you want to eat. We’ve had some nice artwork framed for our new place at Frame, Set & Match in Notting Hill (113, Notting Hill Gate, W11). We’re using Brinkworth, which did my first two restaurants, as our architect (4–6, Ellsworth Street, E2) and have bought quite a few door fittings from a company called Buster + Punch,

which has a showroom in Southwark (The Hop Exchange, 24, Southwark Street, SE1). Has life returned to normal at Hide since the last restrictions were lifted? Eating out has renewed its currency and everyone is enjoying it with a revived vigour. My first cooking job is to make my sons’ porridge in the morning, then I’ll get in to Hide about 7.30am. My day-to-day job is checking consistency, testing new dishes. One that recently came onto the menu is a salad of beetroot and strawberries with a little bit of sheep’s cheese and some toasted hazelnuts, topped with a plum kernel oil granita. It’s a vibrant spring starter that’s really fresh and means you can indulge in a pudding down the line. I’m also working on dishes for Hideaway (100, Mount Street, W1, pictured above), a little coffee shop just opposite Scott’s that’s been going about 18 months.

Brett Charles; Thomas Alexander; Alamy

Are you able to catch any of the racing? I don’t have time to place any bets, it’s two solid days of prep, then showtime! We do 250 covers a day for five days and afternoon tea as well; lobster brioche rolls rather than finger sandwiches this year, pork and cider sausage rolls and scones, of course, with jam and clotted cream. Afternoon teas can be a little sickly sweet and garish; with this one I’ve tried to recalibrate the sweet to savoury.

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Advertisement promotion

Loft-style living in SE1

The finest in loft-style living is coming to SE1 this summer, with the launch of The Blackwell Collection, exclusive penthouses within the historic Branston Pickle Factory, in the heart of buzzing Bermondsey

ITH its original red-brick façade and Art Deco-style entrance, The Pickle Factory is an exquisitely refurbished masterpiece situated within the London Square Bermondsey development, which was awarded silver for best London apartment scheme at the recent WhatHouse awards. On the sixth and seventh floors of the building sits The Blackwell Collection, which comprises 11 stylish penthouses, with only four remaining available for sale.

The beautiful three-bedroom show penthouse will make the most of loft living Built to the highest specification, these striking properties offer world-class, modern city living in one of London’s most vibrant areas. With accommodation spanning up to 2,029sq ft, notable interior features include luxurious freestanding baths, large dressing areas, built-in wardrobes and oversized windows. Outside, the expansive terraces of up to about 500sq ft are perfect for entertaining. Residents will benefit from concierge services, on-site gym and the Beach Garden, a tranquil respite from city life with benches and bistro-style seating. Two-bedroom penthouses in The Blackwell Collection are priced from £1.45 million and those with three bedrooms from £2.4 million. An exclusive unveiling of the show home is taking place on June 25: according

The Blackwell Collection penthouses offer the very best in loft living in vibrant Bermondsey

to interior design studio Honky, the beautiful three-bedroom penthouse will make the most of all the benefits of elevated loft living. The launch day will be in collaboration with Eames Fine Art, an art gallery and collectors’ studio located on Bermondsey Street, which will be holding an exhibition in the sales suite. It will showcase art and sculptures from British artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Ross Loveday, Sophie Layton and Malcolm Franklin. ‘SE1 has a long history of artists working, exhibiting and congregating around the warehouse studios and vibrant bars,’ explains one of the gallery’s founders, Rebecca Eames. ‘That is why Eames Fine Art made it our home too— we work closely with many local artists.’

Bermondsey has plenty of popular pubs (left), but also leafy, tranquil areas (right)

Perfectly restored: the former Pickle Factory

Bermondsey Street is a magnet for the best in fashion, food, art and design. The White Cube gallery, The Fashion & Textile Museum and a constantly evolving collection of cafes, bars and restaurants attract visitors from all over the world. The show home launch for The Blackwell Collection takes place on Saturday, June 25, at The Pickle Factory. To book a place at the event, contact London Square Bermondsey on 0333 666 4343 or bermondsey@londonsquare.co.uk. CGIs depict the Pickle Factory and Blackwell Collection at London Square Bermondsey and are indicative only. Details and prices correct at time of going to press

Widham Far mhouse purton, wiltshire

An exciting opportunity to acquire a Grade II Listed Farm House with planning consent for improvements. Also neighbouring stables with full planning permission (PL2021/06597) to convert to an impressive three bedroom character home of 77.9 sq.m (839 sq.ft). Guide price for the whole

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and artist colonies by the sea 8 June – 1 July Fifty years on from our ground-breaking retrospective exhibition of Newlyn School artists, David Messum Fine Art presents this new exhibition in which we continue to be a leading voice on British Impressionism.

Blossom oil on panel

34 x 44 cms

13 3⁄8 x 173⁄8 ins

signed lower left

F R E DE R ICK W I L L I A M JACK SON

R B A N E AC 18 59 –1918

Frederick Jackson painted Blossom not far from the village of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, where he lived with his wife in the small white cottage which can be seen in the background. Jackson was a founder member of the Artist Colony at Staithes. He developed a reputation for being one of the keenest exponents of plein-airism in the group; often working in cold and exposed places to paint scenes from nature as they happened. As a result, sea and sky are central to his landscapes, which provided the drama and motion to his arrangements. These were common interests which uniﬁed the group, as was their dedication to the unembellished painting of contemporary life. Fully illustrated catalogue £15

DAVID ME SSUM FINE ART

12 Bury Street, St. James’s, London SW1Y 6AB Tel: +44 (0)20 7287 4448

www.messums.com

Property market

Penny Churchill

Set in the rich farming country of Wiltshire’s Chalke Valley is West Chase, a 600-acre residential and sporting estate. Excess £18m

Land of dreams Three large farming estates in some of the prettiest corners of England come to market

AMED ‘The Best Place to Live in the Southwest 2022’ in a recent survey by The Times, Wiltshire’s Chalke Valley is described as ‘picturesque countryside at its spring-scented best, with Saxon churches, thatched cottages, rolling downs and a series of villages radiating from Salisbury, and strung out through the 13-mile chalk escarpment from Salisbury west towards Shaftesbury’. Historically, villages such as Bowerchalke, Broad Chalke and Ebbesbourne Wake were

part of the Chalke estate granted to Wilton Abbey in 955. At the Dissolution, the Chalke Manor estate, together with the bulk of the vast Abbey estates, was granted to Sir William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke, and thereafter passed with the Pembroke title to Reginald, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, who succeeded to the family estates in 1913. Having served with distinction in the First World War, Lord Pembroke retired as a Lt Col in the Royal Horse Guards and took over the running of his Wilton estates. From 1919

onwards, he sold a 2,000-acre chunk of land as half a dozen individual farms on the northern edge of what is now the Cranborne Chase AONB. Farming had been the main source of employment in the prosperous Chalke Valley since Saxon times and there were plenty of willing takers for the land. In about 1920, West Chase farm, a mixed half-livestock, half-arable farm in the parish of Bowerchalke on the Wiltshire/Dorset border to the south of Broad Chalke and Ebbesbourne, was acquired by Charles

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Find the best properties at countrylife.co.uk Coward. It later passed to his son, another Charles, and grandsons John and David— traditional farmers who were still grazing sheep on the downs and rearing beef cattle on their 550-acre holding in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, West Chase was acquired by its present owners, who were captivated by the long-term potential of this green and pleasant slice of south Wiltshire countryside, which boasts views ‘to die for’ over neighbouring Dorset to the Purbecks and the Isle of Wight, and has changed hands only twice in the past 100 years or more. Over their tenure, the owners have transformed a traditional working farm into a wonderfully private, 600-acre residential and sporting estate with a handsome 5,630sq ft principal house, a walled garden and tennis court, a pretty courtyard of converted farm buildings, large period barn, a secondary farmhouse, estate cottages and extensive equestrian facilities, with direct access to a network of bridleways on Cranborne Chase.

The park was laid out by Sir Robert Furnese between 1702 and 1710 and many of the trees planted then are still thriving today The scenic ring-fenced estate, comprising 387 acres of productive arable land, 142 acres of let pasture and 48 acres of woodland, with no public access and no rights of way, is for sale as a whole through Savills with an asking price of ‘excess £18 million’. Alex Lawson (020–7409 8882)) and Louise Harrison (020– 7016 3715) are handling the sale. With no listed buildings at West Chase, the owners were able to remodel the original south-facing Georgian farmhouse as an elegant and spacious country house, using designs by renowned Classical architect William Bertram. It now provides four fine reception rooms, five bedrooms and three bathrooms and is surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens designed in 1996 by multiple Chelsea Flower Show Goldmedal-winner Julian Dowle. Over in east Kent, history is about to be repeated with the sale of the 434-acre Waldershare Park estate near Eythorne, six miles from Dover and 14 miles south-east of Canterbury, again through Savills (07967 555502) at a guide price of £11.85m for the whole.

Top and above: Waldershare Park, Kent, includes a Grade II-listed farmhouse. £11.85m Comprising a large part of the original, almost 1,000-acre Waldershare estate, the property is an interesting mix of houses, cottages and other estate buildings with planning consent or potential, the whole set within glorious mature farmland, parkland and woodland. The park was laid out between 1702 and 1710 by Sir Robert Furnese and many of the trees planted then are still thriving today. Sir Robert’s daughter, Catherine, married the 1st Earl of Guilford in 1751, since when the park has remained in the Guilford family and is now home to the 10th Earl. Waldershare Park comprises three main elements: the centrally-located, 99-acre Home

Farm with its Grade II-listed farmhouse, now the principal estate house; the former kennels and riding school set in 106 acres at the northern edge of the estate; and the Waldershare and Canterbury Parks, comprising 228 acres of rolling arable farmland interspersed with pockets of mature woodland. Three traditional lodges guard the approaches to the estate from different directions. Last refurbished in 2016, the house at Home Farm is built of brick under a slate roof with accommodation on three floors including four good reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, large master suite, five further bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms. It stands June 1, 2022 | Country Life | 109

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Property market

Enjoying superb views, unspoilt Upleadon Court, Herefordshire, has a 201-acre pasture and arable farm, plus apple orchards. £4m

in beautifully landscaped gardens, including a Grade II-listed walled garden and an enclosed heated outdoor pool, and comes with a threebedroom annexe, last upgraded in 2019. The former kennels have been split into nine cottages and industrial units, which, together with other estate cottages and houses, provide a substantial rental income. The former traditional riding school, built in finely detailed brickwork, is a large open building fronting an open stable courtyard with side courts. Currently used for machine storage, it now needs refurbishing, but with its side courts and cottages offers a range of alternative uses, subject to planning. Down in deepest Herefordshire, Matthew Sudlow of Strutt & Parker (01865 366640) is overseeing the sale, for the first time in more than 100 years, of the splendidly unspoilt Upleadon Court with its surrounding 201acre arable and grassland farm, six miles north-west of Ledbury and 13 miles from the cathedral city of Hereford.

He quotes a guide price of £4m for the imposing main house, which stands on high ground overlooking its own land with magnificent views to the Malvern Hills, Cleeve Hill and the Black Mountains. Imposing

The traditional riding school, built in finely detailed brickwork, fronts an open stable courtyard Georgian Upleadon Court, which dates from the 18th century with 19th-century additions, has been the home of its owner, man and boy, who, with no family member to take it on, has decided to retire from farming. The impressive main farmhouse, which oozes character but could do with some

updating, offers 4,854sq ft of comfortable accommodation on three floors, including three reception rooms and seven/eight bedrooms. The farm buildings located to the north of the main house are a mix of modern and traditional and include a former hop kiln—a splendid red-brick building housing workshops, stores and a former mill room that could be adapted for alternative uses, subject to planning. Expertly maintained by successive generations, the land that surrounds the farmhouse and farm buildings comprises 136 acres of mainly Group 2 arable on the more level southern part of the farm, with permanent pasture on the more undulating northern boundary. Split from the farm by Heywood Lane is a further 24 acres of arable land bordered by Stony Brook. Upleadon Court also boasts three apple orchards, which have been in production for more than 50 years and are harvested under an informal arrangement by a local cider-maker.

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BALHAM - HARRODS - HAMPSTEAD 020 8675 4808 www.indian-ocean.co.uk

Property comment

Edited by Annunciata Elwes

A fine mess

Former military buildings sold off as the armed forces modernise can be architectural gold dust to discerning developers, finds Lucy Denton

E shape our buildings; thereafter our buildings shape us,’ declared Winston Churchill in 1943, insisting on the reconstruction of the bomb-damaged Commons Chamber to its ‘old form, convenience and dignity’. More than 20 years earlier, as Secretary of State for War, he was ensconced in the Old War Office on Whitehall, a stately edifice completed in 1906, sold off by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2016, and now being revitalised as top-notch apartments, restaurants and Raffles’s first flagship hotel in Britain—known as The OWO (Property comment, July 21, 2021). As the armed forces modernise and outmoded property is unloaded from Government estates, what is superfluous to needs often translates as architectural treasure for the discerning developer. But there are many factors to consider, including condition, heritage designations, location, communal services, how recently it was mothballed, former use and existing monuments. Living in a place with military provenance carries a certain cachet; 20 of the 85

apartments in The OWO, due to be completed in a few months’ time, have already sold. ‘It’s extraordinarily impressive,’ says Adam Simmonds of residential development sales at Savills. ‘There’s even an old spies’ entrance on Whitehall Court.’ T. E. Lawrence

The important thing, continues Mr Sanderson, “is that the historic legacy of these places needs to be respected” and Ian Fleming once walked the unusually wide corridors here, designed to accommodate a considerable workforce (which even included messengers on bicycles). Much of the history of this Grade II*-listed building is shrouded in mystery, with whatever went on within its walls covered by the

Official Secrets Act. The OWO’s sensitive location also means that Westminster Development Services (founded in 2015 by the Hinduja Group) have had to work closely with the landlord, the MoD, which retains the freehold, as well as rights to the flagpole on the roof. Ripe for rescuing, there are all sorts of military buildings—barracks, guard houses, Martello towers and batteries—on Historic England’s latest Heritage at Risk Register: rough-hewn Victorian Tregantle Fort in Cornwall, for example, or the neo-Georgian 1930s airmen’s blocks at Biggin Hill in southeast London, vacated by the RAF in 1993. Hopefully, the resolve and patience required to take on a conversion is worth the effort. ‘It all depends on the type of building,’ explains Robin Stannard, historic building surveyor at Adam Architecture in Winchester, Hampshire, ‘and some suit domestic conversion very well, although some with very specific former uses can be a problem.’ ‘Consider the fact that barracks are usually built in locations you wouldn’t normally find residential development,’ advises John

Alamy

Developers of The OWO have had to work in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, such are the secrets within its walls

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From billets to bedrooms: items worth considering Be aware of heritage implications, including the significance of a site, and establish what you can and can’t do early on in any project. Former military property may contain protected listed buildings Engage with the local conservation officer and Historic England

The parade ground at Winchester’s Peninsula Barracks is now a ‘Versailles-esque’ garden

Fisher of Sotheby’s Realty, ‘and that wider facilities might not be available. Think about the type of structure, too. If it’s fortified, it’s probably going to be more difficult to make changes.’ Nick Sanderson, chief executive of the Audley Group, which acquired Headley Court, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre sold in 2018, for a proposed family housing and retirement-village scheme, says development always depends on the previous use. It had ‘never had a combat or technological use,’ he notes, so had survived in a relatively unaltered state. The late-Victorian house, built for the 1st Baron Cunliffe,

governor of the Bank of England, was in decent condition as ‘it had been looked after by the officers. Most of the panelling was still there and it was on its original configuration. The MoD is extremely good at maintaining buildings.’ The important thing, continues Mr Sanderson, ‘is that the historic legacy of these places needs to be respected’. Superlative examples currently on the market, in revamped state, include a fourbedroom townhouse in the Peninsula Barracks at Winchester— £1.75 million through Savills (01962 834057)—with its rich provenance as the site of Charles II’s incomplete palace by Sir Christopher Wren, later skilfully rebuilt as barracks in the early 20th century and sold by the MoD in 1994; its former parade ground is now a Versaillesesque formal garden with fountain. Not only are these places fortified with impressive histories, but they are popular ‘because they usually haven’t suffered the vagaries of modernisation,’ notes Andrew Cronan, director at Strutt & Parker, ‘and because the surrounding land was controlled, the location is often a relatively unspoilt, rural spot’. As military conversions are increasingly desirable, why not steal a march and take one on?

Obtain appropriate surveys to determine condition of buildings, as well as the presence of asbestos Consider what is left of the original architectural design and layout and what has been altered; engage a conservation architect Existing services, including water supply and electricity, will probably be communal, which might need reconfiguration for residential and other conversions Think about location: barracks and other elements of military infrastructure were often built away from population centres and amenities Investigate planning implications, including potential change of use, as well as potential leasehold and freehold arrangements Engage with military personnel who might have formerly been stationed at a barracks or naval yard: residential conversions often attract those who served there Be aware of memorials, monuments, commemorative associations; public access to these could be desirable Remember that converting a former military site is probably for the long haul. Developers and architects say that, sometimes, it can take several years from acquisition of the property to finished scheme

9000

Alamy

Tregantle Fort in Cornwall is a military installation ripe for redevelopment

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