Audley End House and Gardens

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We haven’t been to Audley End House & Gardens for quite a few years, and today, we’re taking Nicki and joining Jo, Janet and Carol there. Given the gap between today and our previous visit, I was hoping to find a previous reference here in my Blog, but nothing… nada..! So that means we must have last been here BEFORE I first began blogging – that’s pre-May 2004! 🤔.

If the weather forecast is to be trusted, we had a fine day ahead with 15℃ predicted. As we were spending a lot of our time inside the House, a scorching hot day wasn’t that important, but it was good to know the weather was on our side.

10.05am: As Nicki, Ann and I left home just after 10, quite by coincidence, Jo, Janet and Carol appeared just behind us – what are the chances, ehh?!?!? 🤔

11.10am: About an hour (ish) later, after a trouble-free journey, we arrived at our destination. Finding the parking area was pretty straightforward, though at first it was a tad confusing since the main public car park was (much) farther up the road – not right by the entrance on our left. On the other hand, disabled parking was way more convenient, located via the main entrance. Temporarily, we went our separate ways!

After parking the car, the three of us took the short walk down the gentle slope towards the House and we were soon through the entrance and looking for our friends.

Our first task was to track down Jo, Janet and Carol who were now slightly ahead of us. ‘If in doubt, I thought, ‘try the Tearoom’ and sure enough, they had secured a table in the corner. The Café was already quite busy as we joined the queue for some initial sustenance but we were served quickly and were soon catching up with everyone’s news over a cuppa and some light nibbles.

Time for a group selfie, testing out my (usually appalling) selfie-taking skills!

Although I’m not bad with a phone camera, selfies have always turned out poor by comparison. Thankfully, after what seems like 30 years or so, I’m finally getting the hang of it (helped along by a tech-tip from Nicki of engaging a countdown timer in order to frame the shot in good time. Every day a school day, ehh?! 👍😁. Cheers, Nicki!

Midday: There is lots to see here – it’s not just the House. The Estate included the 1880’s Service Wing, the Stable Yard, the Coach House, the Temple of Concord, the Polish War Memorial, the Organic Kitchen Garden, the Pond Garden, the Vine House and yet another garden – ‘The Elysian’.

Twenty minutes later, with beaming smiles captured, we were ready to explore the House… and Audley End is a big one! 👍

First impressions? From the outside, the House already looked fantastic and was in excellent condition – and once inside, it continued to impress.

Clearly, a lot of time and money had been spent on restoring everything here so it looked like new. It’s one of EH’s most popular properties, so it’s money well spent!

Case in point: The massive Tudor Screen had been restored to its original appearance — having been painted white at some point in the past!

Helpfully, one of the Volunteers carried out a short history lesson about the House and the families who lived there. Another sign of (very) visible wealth? Oh yes! In fact, as every schoolboy knows: a Library in a house was always the sign of wealth – and Audley End House has TWO!

In spite of all of this money, the irony was that in the 1940s, the House (now occupied by just one person) was eventually handed over to the Government. In 1983, it became the responsibility of English Heritage.

12.50pm: Another fascination of the time was collecting stuffed dead things. It’s not to everyone’s taste – I’m more used to just stuffed peppers – and the above photos capture just a small proportion of the collection on display here.

1.05pm: One of the many great things about this House was that very little of the House seemed to be off limits. With the ground floor explored, we now headed upstairs, where even the Attic (that included ‘The Coal Gallery’) was put to good use. Another ‘first’ in that it’s the only country pile that I’ve been to where they used ‘upstairs’ as a store for piles of coal! A great idea when you think about it, but certainly very unusual!

Upstairs also housed the Nursery for their growing collection of kids – eight in total. Looking at the beds and the general decor, they certainly wanted for nothing.

1.15pm: An opportunity of silliness followed (and why not!) where the sight of period costumes (including hats) were ‘wasting away’ just sitting in the corner of the room. Yes, it would have been rude not to, so we slipped into something more elegant (well, the girls did!). Me? I’m not sure what I ‘came as’, but it looked – and felt – very disturbing!

Next stop was all the way back downstairs to the Kitchens.

1.25pm: With the kitchens now conquered, we dropped into the nearby Laundry Room. Tucked away in the corner was this… 🤔 ⬇️⬇️

None of us had a clue what it was. It looked like it was something to do with a door… maybe some form of repair tool. After a lot of head-scratching we deduced it was maybe something to do with pressing laundry. Maybe? 🤔

And it was – as the diagram above shows. Another first, as I’ve never seen one before.

1.40pm: Lunch was now calling – quite loudly! We headed back to where we’d met when we arrived. Boy, was it busy!! Whilst the girls queued, I secured us a table (as they were being taken in double-quick time).

Whilst the House may have been on the grand side, you couldn’t say the same for the food selection! It was all delicious, but the range was very limited. It therefore didn’t take us long to empty our plates, and we were soon on the final stretch, looking for the Gardens.

1.55pm: In spite of the six sharpest minds on the case AND with the map, finding the Gardens took us in some ‘interesting’ directions. On the way, the views were spectacular, and we eventually found the most direct route, but not before taking a short diversion to the Stables.

For those who have watched me ride a horse, I know some of you are still having therapy! Whilst others still haven’t stopped laughing! 😯. So, for me, today, a much safer option was on offer…

3.00pm: Eventually, we discovered the Kitchen Garden.

In truth, there wasn’t an awful lot to see, but what was obvious, just looking around, was that this was a BIG space! It would have therefore needed quite a lot of labour to keep on top of all the gardening tasks. What DID make a lasting memory was the Gardeners’ Bothy (a refuge for the hard-working staff). It was also large, full of tools – and included an office too! It was also clear that it was the domain of a VERY tidy person (I could easily have moved in tomorrow!) 😍👍

3.20pm: We finished our day near the Polish War Memorial then slowly headed around the back of the House.

Phew! 🥱. According to my walking monitor, it told me I’d covered just over 48 miles today. It certainly felt like a LONG walk around the Estate, but it clearly wasn’t that far! Then I realised that somehow my sedate driving style (yeah, right!) on the way there had confused the software and it thought I had walked – from Northamptonshire to North Essex!

3.35pm: We said our goodbyes and headed back in slightly different directions to our cars. It had been a FANTASTIC day, where we realised that this was our first day out together, and ALL of us are now retired! 👏😯. The weather had delivered a beautifully warm day that was at least 2-3 degrees warmer than the forecast had suggested – perfect! ☀️🌞😎.

5.02pm: We had a trouble-free journey home and indoors, sipping a cuppa just after 5.

More days like this, please!! 👍👍