Breaking the journey

 A fleeting, but fruitful break in our journey towards the north of the country with a brief stop at Canons Ashby. A new NT house for me and although on the smaller side, most definitely perfectly formed.

In its first incarnation Canons Ashby was a medieval Augustinian Priory which, by the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, had got itself a rather unsavoury reputation and was thus one of the first in line when the closures started in 1536. It passed into the hands of one of Henry VIII's cronies, Sir Francis Bryan, [he was related to the Boleyns and the Howards]. He understood and adapted seamlessly to the intrigues of the court and managed to remain in favour with the monarch. His behaviour and rakish exploits earned him the nickname of the 'Vicar of Hell'

Further down the line in the history of the property's ownership it passed into the Dryden family following John's marriage to Elizabeth Cope in 1551 [her father held the estate of Canons Ashby] and there it remained for the next 400 years. This couple had the tower built and then joined the original farm to it which gives it its distinctive H shape and then Edward Dryden had the dressed stone frontage added to bring it in line with 18th century taste. By the 20th century the fortunes of the family had declined and they were unable to afford the upkeep so it passed over into the care of the NT.

There were a whole row of these in the hallway...shoes to go over the horses hooves so that they didn't damage the grass no less. The problems of the wealthy eh!

This rather gorgeous Arts and Crafts table and chair was designed and made by Clare Dryden in the 1890s.

How about this for a rather splendid example of a Jacobean room...behold that confection of a ceiling and the many delicious details on the overmantle.

Round every corner there seemed to be a new delight to behold. The first photo is one of the series of 17th century wall paintings which were discovered when work was done on this part of the house and the panels with the armorial details would have been there to impress all and sundry. A bit like a Burke's Peerage, but in painted form. Amazingly that ended up as the servants quarters in the end.

I simply couldn't resist asking what the object below was....I'm reliably informed that it's a bobbin winder.

With a view out across the garden to the far hills to finish with. As you can see the storm clouds were gathering by then so we made a dash for it back to the car and resumed our journey to our first stopover.

Arilx