LADY OF THE MANOR
What is it really like to be ‘lady of the manor’ in the 21st century? Maxine Gordon finds out over a coffee with Alice Wombwell of Newburgh Priory in North Yorkshire
We Brits love to peek through the keyhole of the nation’s grand houses. Whether that’s from the sofa, binging on episodes of Downton Abbey, or in person, on a weekend visit to a stately home.
But what is it really like to live in a country pile today?
Alice Wombwell ponders the question as she takes a sip of coffee (‘strong and very milky, please’, she instructs husband Steve).
The couple live at Newburgh Priory – a former 12th century Augustinian Priory near Coxwold just half an hour’s drive from York – with their five children aged bet ween 12 and 16; two dogs, Zephyr and Penny; two rabbits, and a handful of chickens.
If you hear them talk about Stanley and Karen, they are the estate’s two robotic mowers who are outside keeping the lawns in shape 24/7, saving the expense of one full-time grounds person.
Alice is an artist and cuts a cool, Bohemian dash with her navy blue nails, oversized hoop earrings and dark, flared denims.
She is super-friendly, chatty and self-deprecating, confessing to having ‘Superglued a few things back together’ that she has broken over the years.
Sitting cross-legged on a squidgy yellow sofa in a grand drawing room that boasts portraits by Van Dyck and Gainsborough on the walls, she expresses fake fury at how the eyes of the woman in the Gainsborough work seem to follow her around the room, disapprovingly.
She describes how the whole family pitch in with running the Priory, especially ahead of summer, when the estate opens to the public on select days.
‘Well, Hoovering a little room is like Hoovering a lawn!’ she says, admitting the days of having hundreds of staff are long gone. This week, family members have been cleaning and polishing the woodwork. A head of plant sale events, mum-in-law Jane (Lady Wombwell) bakes, her coffee cake being the best-seller.
When the house is open to the public (on Wednesdays and Sundays from 2pm-6pm to the end of June and August Bank Holiday) ‘supergran’ Helen (Steve’s granny) room sits, greeting visitors and sharing the building’s incredible history. ‘There is no stopping her,’ says Steve with a smile.
At first glance, daily life at the Priory seems pretty standard for a family of five. There’s talk of GCSE revision, school runs, the weekly shop at Aldi (‘I used to shop at Tesco before the pandemic,’ says Steve, who does most of the cooking).
