After spending a couple of days with my brother Brian and his family in Plympton, I hired a car for a few hours to drive back to Phil's home at Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset. I spent about three days there just relaxing, but we did make one interesting trip to nearby Broadlands. This home has some history!
It's a private home that's opened to the public for a few hours most days in summer, but is closed for most of the year. Visitors have a private guided tour of the major rooms downstairs, which are regularly used by the owners. Richly decorated they contain many art-works by leading painters of the day, antique furniture, and so on. Alas, photography is forbidden inside, which is why my photos focus on the exterior. It is a worthy destination and far more interesting in some ways than many National Trust properties.
The large house is set in some magnificent rolling countryside, and all the following pictures were taken after the guided tour of the interior:
The family mausoleum in the grounds.
And here I am gracing the river bank
It's a private home that's opened to the public for a few hours most days in summer, but is closed for most of the year. Visitors have a private guided tour of the major rooms downstairs, which are regularly used by the owners. Richly decorated they contain many art-works by leading painters of the day, antique furniture, and so on. Alas, photography is forbidden inside, which is why my photos focus on the exterior. It is a worthy destination and far more interesting in some ways than many National Trust properties.
The large house is set in some magnificent rolling countryside, and all the following pictures were taken after the guided tour of the interior:
The family mausoleum in the grounds.
View from the front of the house shown in the second photo above.
And here I am gracing the river bank
So who has lived or spent some time here over the years? Well, there was a manor house here before the Norman conquest in 1066! After the dissolution of the monasteries it was acquired by Sir Francis Fleming in 1547. The house passed by marriage to Sir John St Barbe, 1st baronet (c. 1655-1723). He died without heirs and the estate passed to Humphrey Sydenham of Combe, Dulverton. Ruined in a speculative bubble, he sold he sold Broadlands to Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston in 1736. The 3rd Viscount Palmerston became Britain's Prime Minister in the nineteenth century! At some point, the estate was acquired by Earl Mountbatten, Uncle to Prince Phillip. This explains why Queen Elizabeth II spent her honeymoon at Broadlands!! And in 9181 the newly married Prince and Princess of Wales spend the first 3 days of their honeymoon there.
So, the house has had many famous occupants over the centuries. If I'd known this degree of pedigree, I might have dressed up a bit more for the occasion!
AS
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