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IGHTHAM MOTE - July 14

In which we visit the “ancestral seat”, celebrate a birthday, and support the National Trust with more than membership.  A branch of Gail’s family owned this moated manor house for almost three hundred years…..
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July 14, 2006

Lazy morning, washing, breakfasting and getting ready for a family trip to Ightham Mote. Since this is David’s birthday weekend (and last weekend was Claire’s), his father and mother are coming down from Binfield to celebrate – although he doesn’t know it yet, they are also coming to take the children home with them so Stacy and David can get away for a holiday together. 

David is at work and will meet us at the Mote.  Grandma and Grandpa drive their own car, and the rest of us are in Stacy’s red VW station wagon.  We all find each other at the moated manor house that plays such a prominent role in Green Darkness, the novel written to explain a legend about this ancient house – that the skeleton of a young woman and her fetus were found walled up inside the house.  It’s quite a good book, and although the guides don’t talk about it, and one of them told us the Trust is not interested in publicizing the legend, the book itself is being sold in the Trust shop – on sale for less than two pounds, besides.

Our big interest, besides the fact that it is a wonderful old manor house, and the restoration of the place is a fabulous story, and that an American fellow is the one who bought it (preventing it from becoming a “road house”, they say) and then donated it to the Trust upon his death (he had seen it while on a bicycle trip 20+ years before, loved it, and then just happened to see that it was being auctioned while he was in England on business), is that it was owned by the Selby family for 298 years, right up until the late 1800s.  In fact, the Selby family crest was placed in stone on the front of the gatehouse tower!  And Dame Dorothea Selby’s portraits – in youth and in old age – hang in the hall!  No one offered to let Gail move in, but they were most interested when I told them she was a Selby.  Since her people left for America from Selby in Yorkshire, and the Selby owners of the Mote came from Northumberland, it’s probable that these folk were just cousins….still, it’s a fun connection to have. 

When we were here first (in 1997) we found out about the Selby connection when the docent leading the tour pointed to a portrait and identified the subject as Dame Dorothea Selby!  What a shocker.  At that time, the Trust had very recently acquired the property and their Class 1 restoration was underway.  We were allowed into less than half the house, because much of the rest was being dismantled to the foundations - all repairs were done with tools of the original types, and materials were taken from the same quarries, forests, etc. as the original.  If a beam had a rotten spot, new wood was spliced in, to retain as much as possible of the original.  It took close to a decade to finish - the biggest (and most expensive) Trust restoration to date.  As one walks across the drawbridge, and through the tower that guards it, one sees the courtyard in the center of the four ranges.
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You can just see the ENORMOUS doghouse (for a St. Bernard [NOT the Great Dane mentioned by a docent – sorry Gracie] who lived here about 100 years ago) in the courtyard.  We were able to take the “tower tour” and climb to the roof of the entrance tower for the views, and see the little museum of archaeological finds that have been made.  One of the more interesting is the collection of shoes that have been found – in the moat, in the walls of the cottages, etc.  And then there are the cottages – built for workers on the farm, and including a dovecote.  Sadly, none of these can be visited – although, happily, it’s because they’re earning money for the National Trust as holiday cottages.  So, if you’ve more scratch than we, you can stay in Ightham Mote’s workers’ cottages rather than the local Youth Hostel.  Here’s how the worker’s cottages look from the entrance to the Mote:

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There used to be more of them, but a fire took out about half of the “terrace” during the last century.

Once down from the tower, we repaired to the tea-shop to celebrate David’s birthday with overpriced tea and (mediocre) scones.  The birthday girl, Claire, is letting us know how old she has just become.
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My buddy James was oblivious to prices—he just enjoyed his apple juice!
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I try to remind myself that this is a bit like the Giants’ ballpark – the (over)price of the food is going for a good cause….the National Trust, like the Giants, is not sucking at the government tit….it’s OUR money that keeps them going.  Still, we normally bring our own lunch and save the money….but this was a bit of a celebration.  Afterwards, we all came home and sat around, eating supper, chatting and having a grand time.  Then to bed.

Posted by on 07/27 at 09:07 PM

  1. What a Delightful blog.  I got here in a roundabout way via Gail at Crossing the Rubicon2 and from her a comment by Bookworm and from her a comment by you.

    I’ve known Gail at CTR2 for a long time and I’ve had her on my blogroll just about ever since I started blogging back in November of ‘04.  I’m adding you to my “Highly Recommended Reads” blogroll, just because this site is so delightful.  Travel, entertainment, politics and the true believers of Global Warming… you’ve got it all.  grin

    Posted by GM Roper  on  08/08  at  01:07 PM

  2. Thanks for the kind words….I’ve enjoyed Bookworm a lot.  Will have to check out CTR2, and look forward to more traffic.  Come on back, anytime.

    Posted by Earl  on  08/08  at  08:07 PM

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