Ham House, Part 1

The weather forecast had promised that today would be beautiful and unseasonably warm for the time of year, so I planned in advance to make the most of it and go out somewhere. After looking at the map of the local area, I decided to revisit the beautiful 17th century Ham House near Richmond, having not been since I was a teenager and Granny took me for an ‘educational visit’. I arrived shortly after the house opened and went straight in to look around, after a brief peep at the formal garden with wonderful pyramids of immaculate topiary. Perhaps because it is the end of the season, it wasn’t too busy in the house which I much prefer, and I was able to take lots of photographs. Some of the ones shot in very low light are not as good as I would hope, that’s the best I could manage with an iPhone camera under the circumstances!

For more information on the house, have a look at the National Trust website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ham-house-and-garden#Overview

Walking up towards the house from the car park.

Gorgeous Autumn colours.

The Cherry Garden, the Duchess’s private garden.





Busts set into the walls flanking each side of the house.



A bit of history about Ham House.



The magnificent entrance to Ham House.



The Great Hall.



Said of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale.



The Chapel.

The Inner Hall, next to the staircase.

The Inner Hall.



Detail of a large painting depicting a maritime incident. It doesn’t look as if it was going very well!





Looking down the stairs.

And up!

Another imposing bust over a door.



The Round Gallery.

The Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale by Sir Peter Lely (1618–80)

Looking down to the Great Hall from the Round Gallery. This was once the dining room with a solid floor, but was knocked through to create the gallery in the early 18th century.

Mrs Heneage, attributed to William Wissing (1656-87). Not a very flattering photo as the painting was high up, but I thought she was rather lovely.

The North Drawing Room.
The cabinet veneered in ivory.







There were boxes with interesting things in them dotted around the house, it was rather like a treasure hunt!



The Long Gallery.





The volunteer in the Green Closet.

The Green Closet. Possibly one of my favourite rooms, sadly mostly roped off so one could only stand by the doorway, and I wasn’t able to get close enough to any of the miniatures to photograph them. They were exquisite, mainly painted on ivory but also on enamel. The wallpaper was actually silk, not paper, and a faithful reproduction of the original from the 17th century.



I loved the green fringed and fuzzy edgings to the walls.

Looking towards the Queen’s Chambers.

The Library, my second favourite room, I could immediately smell the old leather and paper of the books when I walked in. Had a very interesting chat with the volunteer in the room, particularly about this wonderful old map, dating from the mid 1800s. I love looking at maps whether old or new, but this one was especially fascinating.

I love the way this says ‘Southern Antarctick or Unknown’ :)

The line here shows the route taken by Dutchman Abel Tasman (Tasmania was named after him) in 1642, prior to his discovery of New Zealand. At this time Australia had not been fully explored and therefore inaccurately mapped, the northern tip of Queensland ‘blending in’ to Papua New Guinea.










Ham House, Part 2