Syon Park and stately homes




After admiring footage of the Great Conservatory in ITV Vanity Fair I did go and visit Syon Park, I went twice in fact. On my first visit the house was closed to the public, it is often hired out for weddings and photoshoots - if I could afford it I would indeed hire it for a photoshoot, it is ideal.  I was given a ticket for the Great Conservatory and the gardens, and advised to keep it because if I came back during the week they would give me an upgrade for the house. As an over sixty,  I got a concession, so it was not bad.
On that  first visit, on a glorious September afternoon, I chanced on only one other visitor coming away from the Great Conservatory. It was all for me to enjoy - honestly who goes round stately homes on a Monday afternoon, when the actual house is closed? Only nutters like me. But in fact I did the right thing. Viewing house and gardens on the same day is quite time consuming. The Great Conservatory was stunning and it was so nice to sit on a bench opposite the fountain  admiring the classical Cupid in the middle of it and soaking up the sun. The gardens are simply gorgeous.
Syon Park is only a few bus stops from Gunnersbury. It's quite secluded but it is accessible to vehicles and nearby there is a Hilton hotel - I did not check it out but I expect it's a standard Hilton, the plus point being that it is so close to Syon Park.  I wonder whether the hotel guests actually visit the house. There is also a Wyevale Garden Centre, built where the ancient barn was - Syon Park was originally an Abbey - and with a remnant of the ancient wall which is now the entrance to a cafe' /restaurant and facilities. The only snag is that Syon Park  is on many flights route to Heathrow so the noise of roaring engines can be quite distracting and a sharp reminder that this is the 21st century.
The house, redesigned by Adams in classical style, is the ancestral home of the Duke of Northumberland and one of the best preserved stately homes in England, with beautiful paintings, ceilings and varied  art works. A major point of attraction is the bedroom of Princess Victoria (who later became Queen Victoria). Her bed was actually rather small, but I guess a large bed was inappropriate for a young lady, not yet married.


 I saw the house on a thursday afternoon, again on a gloriously sunny day. There were more visitors about but the place was not crowded. The staff were keen to point out artworks and would answer questions. They normally have guided tours on a wednesday but I don't like joining a guided tour on a first visit, I like exploring on my own,  noticing things that I personally find striking. I can go back to Syon Park any time, it's not that I am here on a flying visit. So I might go on a winter day for example and join a tour then. It's not exactly round the corner from where I live, but not so far either. Like Kew Gardens.
England is known for its stately homes and the British have definitely learnt a thing or two about how to turn them into attractions, opening them up to the general public and making some money for their upkeep - something that is not necessarily the case in other countries.  Many of such homes have been taken over by the National Trust and membership of the Trust allows you to get fairly decent discounts on entry tickets. The stately homes - with their state rooms, hence the name - are historic buildings and their history is fascinating, often spanning centuries. Syon Park for example was a Bridgettine Abbey but it was totally destroyed and plundered by Henry the VIII following the break with Rome and later given to the Percy family who owns it to this day (mine is a very  potted history indeed, skipping all the juicy details, you can read about it on the website).


The appeal of stately homes is in their being other wordly, different from our everyday reality.  They signify splendour and are a definite marker of  privilege, whereas today we fancy that we are all equal.  For every lord and lady who lived there, there was an army of servants and various underlings doing menial jobs, including emptying their lordships and ladyships commode chairs. Yet as you visit, you feel a certain closeness to the former inhabitants of those rooms. You almost develop a sense of intimacy, as it hits you  that so and so drank his/her tea there, or leafed through those books on display, or paced those very corridors deep in thought. People, human beings like you and me, lived in those rooms, rested in those chairs and slept in those beds. They surrounded themselves with things they liked. It is a feeling  one does not get, not in the same way, when visiting a museum, where everything is removed from its original location, no matter how many labels there are to provide a context. The only museum that has ever given me the sense of rooms being lived is the amazing Sir John Soane's Museum, at one time his home, right in the heart of Bloomsbury. He was a collector  and the artwork he gathered is crowded in each and every room the way he placed it in there.  Priceless, in every sense.

Back to Syon Park: the American Indian princess Pocahontas, otherwise known as Lady Rebecca Rolfe, wife of tobacco planter John Rolfe, was a guest of the Percy family at Syon House in 1616. A photographic  exhibition inspired by Pocahontas , entitled 'Origins' , is currently on in the foyer, by the ticket kiosk.
So next time you are in London and have a few hours to spare visit Syon Park. Preferably on a weekday.

(All photos were taken by me)

Comments

  1. Another world indeed. Perhaps you may return to John Soane's Museum one day and share your thoughts with us about that one also.

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