“TRY TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT IN THE BIG HOUSE DOWN THE ROAD!
Marjorie and I had a real life experience with country houses decades ago when we were
searching for English ’tithe barns’. Places where peasant medievsal farmers paid their tithes
in kind because they never handled cash in coin form. Or very rarely did so. They paid their
10”% tithes in the form af bushels of grain or domestic animals. Church and state officials
had to have buildings in which to store and eventually sell or distribute these agricultural products.
So huge tithe barns were built. And many of these ancient medieval buildings have survived
and are tucked away in obscure villages., landed estates or alongside churches in Britain.
Finding them was a challenge which made our trip worthwhile.
“Alan, that was one of our greatest trips when we searched for those tithe barns.?
“Gave purpose to the trip didn’t it?”
“Remember Bromyard?
“Night driving east from Leominster…dark…we had no place to stay…
But by chance we found a Counry House…old aristocratic estate…long lane.”
Just east of Bromyard, Herefordshire.”
“A man in the Bromyard pub suggested we try the big house outside own….sometimes
they take in tourists…not often but sometimes.”
So we drove down that long dark twisty lane arriving at a very large
Country Estate home. There was some kind of party going on in the
main room…seemed to be celebrating something.
“Sure, we can put you up. Big room upstairs. Make yourself at home.
Wine, beer and scotch in the room, help yourself.
We will send up
coffee in the morning on the dumb waiter.”
“Dumb waiter?” What did he mean by that? Turned out to be a miniature hand
cranked elevator for food directly from the estate kitchen somewhere below. We made
ourselves at home. Made gin and tonic from the loaded bar. Great long cast
iron bathtub with heated towel rack. Pure luxury. The former aristocratic owners
knew those finer touches of relaxation.
A while later there was a knock on our door and an invitation to come down
and join them in the drawing room where around a half doze ’30 somethings’ had been
lamenting end of fox hunting with hounds and horses..
“The estate is owned by an American company to entertain executives visiting England.
Very irregular…so rooms are unused most of the time.”
Marjorie and I were just entertainment for the group All of them bemoaning
the decline off fox hunting. Upper class. Seems former owners of he estate
were kept on to maintain estate for American corporation. Quite a come down.
We had a great time and in the morning a little bell rang and coffee came up
on the dumb waiter while we were invited downstairs for a complete English breakfast with Kippers included.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOST OF THE COUNTRY HOUSES IN IRELAND?
Sad situation in Ireland. Between 1919 and 1923 most of the 4,000 country houses
in Ireland were set ablaze. Today there are only 100 or so remaining. The
Irish I met when working there in 1960 referred to those bitter days of the
early 1920’s as the ’Time of the Troubles’ which meant little to me at the time.
In those years thousands of grand estate homes many of which were like
Eywood were set on fire by members of the IRA…Irish Republican Army.
I remembered doing our 1960 geophysical survey work through a big estate
east of Bunmahon. Seemed the owner was not pleased with our trespassing. He had a good case.
The reasons I remembered was the heavy rain and spongy swamp area where
John Fleming and the staking crew worked in the darkness and pouring rain cutting our survey lines
using a compass and flashlight. Fleming did it and kept lines straight. Amazing work.
But first we had to overcome the estate owners protests. Do not remember how
we got access. Do remember the thick rhododendron underbrush and then
the needle like Gorse. Who would want to trespass?
So I sent a note to Professor Aidan Coffey who is quite an authority on what is
now called the Copper Trail of western Waterford.
DATELINE: JANUARY 4, 2022
Hello Alan.
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Caldecott House
