Following out two nights at Cliveden, we traveled by bus to
Harlaxton Manor near Grantham in Lincolnshire. Built by Gregory Gregory between
1835 and 1855, it was a catalyst for a renaissance of Elizabethan architecture.
Gregory was a bit of an eccentric and building the manor was his life’s
passion. Nowhere near as rich as one would expect looking at the manor, Gregory
spent most of his yearly income building and decorating the manor. The manor
stayed in the Gregory family until 1935 when it was abandoned. During that
entire period, the manor was never occupied by a family. Abandoned in 1935, the
manor deteriorated and was nearly demolished.
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| Walking up the main drive |
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| The entrance gate looking over the grounds |
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The entrance gate
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Fortunately, Violet Van der Elst saw an advertisement in
The Times and Country Life looking for
someone to save this “labor of an age in piled stones.” Violet made her money
selling beauty preparations and the first brushless shaving cream, Shavex,
which she manufactured in her own kitchen. She spent over £250,000 restoring
and redecorating the manor. A modern thinker, she stopped all field sports and
hunting on the grounds to create a “sanctuary for the birds and wild creatures.”
She was so opposed to capital punishment that she would not even allow mice to
be killed in the house. Frequently arrested for protesting capital punishment,
her money and activities were significant in the fight to put the practice to
an end, something she lived to see.
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| The courtyard and circular driveway |
In 1948, having dissipated her fortune, she sold the manor
to the Society of Jesus who used it as a seminary until 1966 when they leased
it to Stanford. 1966 was also the year that Van der Elst died penniless in a
Kentish nursing home. Stanford in Britain stayed four years. We were fortunate
to be in the group that ended the stay at Harlaxton and began the time at
Cliveden. The University of Evansville (Indiana) took over the building and
grounds in 1971 and spent the money Stanford was unwilling to spend updating
and renovating the huge building.
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| The Conservatory at the back |
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| Overlooking the grounds |
Some of our group, remembering the drafty rooms and poor
heating, chose to stay at the Angel and Royal Hotel in Grantham. They made a
mistake as the renovations resulted in a place we hardly recognized. The only
constant was the food served in the same old dining room that easily reminded
us of our meals years ago. The exception was the excellent banquet in the state
dining room our last night
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Our arrival was much more pleasant than that cold and rainy
night in December of 1969. The afternoon sun illuminated the manor for us
shortly after we passed Grantham. Embarrassingly, we had to be told by our old
professors that we were looking at Harlaxton. Our bus was too big to use the
grand entrance. The main road is one straight mile with the manor elevated and
behind a stunning entrance gate.
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| No swimming in this pond |
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| More of the grounds |
We grabbed our bags and entered through a side
door, so missed the grand entrance and much of the beauty. One unchanged item
is the elevator. It is still a cage with two doors, both of which must be fully
closed or the call button does not work. It only took one open door and the
walk up three levels for all of us to remember that small, but essential
detail. After settling into our rooms, we were given a tour. Unlike at
Cliveden, the renovations changed things enough that we were not always in
agreement what had been where. I never did figure out where six of us had
shared one sleeping room or where the bath and shower room we shared was
located. Our room for the night was on the top floor which had been off-limits
to all but the professors and their families during our stay.
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| Renovations continue on the fountain |
