Visit a real-life Downton Abbey at England’s 10 most majestic country houses
By Dixe Wills
1 Cliveden, Buckinghamshire Scandalously luxurious
Built in 1666 by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham as a lavish gift for his mistress, Cliveden has famously passed through the hands of dukes, earls, viscounts and even a prince. However, the house is most associated with one family – the Astors. William Waldorf Astor was the richest man in America when he paid $1.2m for the house in 1893. He was made First Viscount Astor and his daughter-in-law, Nancy Astor, became the first woman in the UK to take a seat as an MP.
But the family never recovered from arguably the biggest scandal of the 1960s: the Profumo Affair. The married Secretary of State for War John Profumo met 19-year-old model Christine Keeler at Cliveden and they began a relationship. However, she was also seeing a Soviet naval attaché. This was an awkward state of affairs and Profumo was forced to resign.
Today Cliveden – perched high above the Thames atop a chalk cliff – doubles as a luxury hotel, but you can still grab a guided tour that includes the family chapel. The grounds are open to the public and comprise 121 hectares of woodland and 32 hectares of formal gardens, including an oriental water garden and a maze. You can even hit the Cliveden Reach of the Thames on a mini cruise or by hiring one of Cliveden’s wide variety of boats (boatingatcliveden.co.uk).
Useful info
• Gardens opening hours:
9.30–5.30 (winter 9.30–4).
• Café; plant shop; second-hand bookshop; accessible toilets; wheelchair hire; dogs welcome.
2 Kingston Lacy, Dorset Italianate splendour
Fancy going to Venice without leaving Britain? Well, it’s perfectly possible. At least, that’s what the explorer William John Bankes would have had you believe. He took the house he inherited – built in the 1660s by his ancestor Ralph Bankes – and had it remodelled to resemble a Venetian palace.
The work was carried out in the 1830s by Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament. Bankes’ vision was to turn the house into a work of art, one that was filled with beautiful things in the style of the Venetian palazzi.
As an inveterate adventurer, Bankes had travelled through much of Europe and south along the Nile, deep into Egypt. He brought the treasures acquired during these expeditions to Kingston Lacey. His legacy is an art collection now considered to be the most impressive in the National T
