Christmas at Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor

Let’s call this the Christmas edition shall we as it is going to be Christmas themed!

A few weeks ago I paid a trip to Waddesdon Manor, together with the WI (I’m not a member, but it’s a rather long story!) in part because of its Christmas attractions but also because I hoped to learn a little about the wider Rothschild family and their home at Waddesdon Manor. However, there was a slight flaw in this plan, as Christmas was very much at the centre of everything and history seems to have been somewhat side lined.

It would appear that the draw for Waddesdon Manor at this time of year is Christmas and it becomes more of a place of entertainment than a typical National Trust property. It has a Christmas market, Christmas themed rooms with large decorated Christmas trees and a wonderful Christmas light show. But it completely takes over. It doesn’t sit alongside everything else and in some ways that was a bit of a shame. For example the Billiard room was turned into the three wise men’s camp with boxes of frankincense, myrrh and gold placed on the chaise-longue. It was cool, but at the same time gimmicky – I’d sort of expected the rooms of the Manor to be done as they would have been by the family at Christmas, rather than with this thematic spin.

Northern Lights inspired tree

Don’t get me wrong, it was great and it definitely put me in the mood for Christmas but the thing I struggled with was the lack of history on offer to read and learn from. Unless you knew that Waddesdon Manor was the home of Baron Ferdinand Rothschild you’d have been unlikely to pick that up anywhere and given that I’d hoped to find out more about them and their history this was slightly disappointing. I think I’ll have to revisit the house re-opens in the spring for a more typical visit.

However, in addition to the Christmassy bits, the Aviary was probably my favourite part. The Rothschild’s are known for being collectors and Ferdinand was fond of birds. There’s an information panel that informs visitors about the history of the Aviary - its establishment by Baron Ferdinand and the contributions of his sister, Alice, its decline during WW2 and finally it’s rejuvenation in the 1970s. It now houses several stud book managed species with a focus on preservation against extinction.

The Aviary

This includes the Rothschild’s Mynah and again an information panel explains how the bird was named after Walter Rothschild shortly after its discovery in 1910. Walter of course, having his own natural history collection not too far away at Tring. The same panel also describes how the Aviary team have been working with the Begawan Foundation and European zoos in an effort to save this critically endangered bird from extinction and I thought this was quite interesting as a reflection of how our attitudes and the priorities in managing the aviary have changed.

The Rothschild Mynah

The Rothschild’s Mynah is endemic to Bali – but because of its beauty it was illegally poached from the wild for the globe pet trade, prices peaking in 1990s at £1000 per bird!!! By 2001 the wild population was believed to be as low as 6 individuals and efforts since to reintroduce captive bred birds have had limited success. A more recent survey in 2012 counted 40 individuals and in order to promote genetic diversity Waddesdon’s Aviary have been involved in a cooperative breeding programme, with some of their birds being reintroduced to the wild and becoming parents themselves.

I have to admit I geeked out at this – the day offered history, Christmas and natural history. What more could this girl ask for? It wasn’t what I’d expected, but I think it’s definitely worth another visit when it reopens in the spring, with the hope that it will be more ‘typically’ National Trust and have some of the information I’m looking for!

Blenheim Palace: Two opinions are better than one!

Bloggers Unite!

Blenheim Palace is one of those places that I expect is on a regular driving route for many people and every time you pass it, you probably think as I do, “I really must go and see what it’s like”. Other than this vague notion that it was Churchill’s family home, I had no idea what it was like or what to expect, only that the word palace evoked this sense of grandeur in my mind.

How about you Katy?

As a local, I visited Blenheim Palace as a small child on a school trip. I recall a grand house with many paintings but little else had stayed with me. Like Elle, it was on my 'places to visit list' despite being so close!

Well a few weeks ago we ended up making a visit. It was a lovely sunny day, if a bit windy, we packed a picnic and off we went to investigate. So, what exactly did we two public historians make of this historic house?

First Impressions:

Katy: My immediate reaction upon seeing Blenheim was surprise at how large the building and the surrounding grounds were. When you return to places visited as a child, they are usually much smaller than you remember and so I was stunned at how much land there was in the estate! It is an impressive, aesthetically -pleasing building which deserves the title palace rather than house. We noticed straight away that the car parks were already very full and I was keen to get inside and have a look around!

Blenheim Palace

Elle: As soon as we drove up the driveway and the Palace came into view I was impressed. It’s an amazing looking building, although not quite what I had imagined. It seemed more continental than I’d perhaps envisaged, the yellowish brick work reminding me more of the Palace of Versailles than other English aristocratic houses and ‘palaces’. I was also amazed at how many people had already arrived, I mean we were early but it was already a hive of activity, and that certainly added to my anticipation about what was in store.

What does Blenheim Offer:

We chose to start the day by upgrading our day tickets to an annual pass which is a free upgrade. A lot of heritage institutions are doing this now and while I’m always a little sceptical that I will revisit within the year it’s always worth doing I think, if for no other reason that it gives you the option. However, it was while upgrading our tickets that our attention was drawn to the WW2 memorabilia that was around, including a Winston Churchill look-a-like and military personnel walking around the site. It was explained to us that the day we’d chosen to visit marked the anniversary of the D-Day Landings and several things would be going on to mark this occasion. But had we not been told this, the presence of a spitfire in the courtyard and fly pass would have been bewildering. As it was there was no real attempt to explain this, I think it was pure chance our attendant had been so chatty and told us about it. So that was a little baffling. Anyway…

Spitfire on Display in the Courtyard

Winston Churchill enjoying a refreshment on the Water Terraces.

Our first stop was to head into the Palace itself. Groups are held in the foyer area and given an explanation of the layout, before being invited to join one of the regular tours that are given of the state rooms. There appeared to be plenty of staff/volunteers around, each of whom came across as very approachable and well informed. You can’t help but overhear sometimes and I noticed how captivated the audience were with the stories and anecdotes they’re being told by their enthusiastic guides, and the sheer size of the groups for that matter.

A Collection of Winston's Own Art work on display

We opted to make our own way around, first doing the Winston Churchill Gallery, then the State Rooms and finally the Untold Story gallery. The Winston Churchill exhibit has recently been redone to coincide with the 50^th Anniversary of his death. It’s very nicely done and it well presented. A lot of family photographs have been used and objects – I particularly like the inclusion of Churchill’s own artwork for I hadn’t realised he was such a talented and keen painter. The curators have really emphasis certain periods of Winston’s life and his abilities – his childhood and romantic life are featured heavily, his time as a wartime leader and state funeral also receive notable attention, as do his skills as an orator, and some of his famous quotes are printed on blank wall space and onto window coverings.

There are notable omissions however; Churchill’s mental health, his career before being Prime Minister and his less palatable views towards those within the British Empire were not included. I think we would both recommend visiting the Churchill War rooms in London for a more detailed understanding of Churchill’s life and personality. Although they did an excellent job of going through Churchill’s main achievements in a physically small space, the information glorified Winston instead of presenting a more balanced portrait of one of Britain’s best loved leaders.

The Library

What can be said about state rooms? Well they’re much like any other really, with the exception that they feel more lived in. When we were in the dining room for example, a member of staff was cleaning the glasses and laying the table, we suspected, for an upcoming dinner at the Palace. It’s an occupied residence and you actually get a sense of that, unlike at Windsor Castle for example. Family photographs are strewn about the place and you get a real sense of the people that lived and, still live there. It has a recent history, as well as a historic one.

The Column of Victory

And that just leaves The Untold Story for gallery’s in the main Palace – however I suspect that it was both of our favourite bits, or at least something that really stood out, so might leave that for us to discuss later on. We then opted for lunch in the grounds, overlooking the lake with a commentary of a rowing competition going on in the background. It was noticeably busy, with a huge demographic of visitors – it’s clearly a popular destination. After lunch we took a stroll to the Column of Victory, a memorial to the 1^st Duke of Marlborough, and then went for a wander around the gardens, which are beautifully landscaped and provide a nice scenic route for a stroll on a sunny day.

We also came across The Temple of Diana, which we’d earlier learnt was the location for Winston’s proposal to Clementine and the Water Terraces where we stopped for an afternoon refreshment. Talk about a wedge of cake. The day really did fly by, but we made a last ditch effort to head over to the pleasure grounds which would appear to cater for family groups of visitors, with a butterfly garden and hedge maze.

Katy stood by the Temple of Diana

It really was a jammed packed day and actually I can now see why they offer an annual ticket. We did a lot, but there’s still things left for us to return and see.

So what was your favourite part:

A shot of The Untold Story Gallery

Elle: By far my favourite part was the The Untold Story gallery. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it. It did really fit into the ‘edutainment’ category of being more like a feature in an amusement park than a historic house, but at the same time I thought it was brilliant. Katy commented on the day how state rooms can all begin to merge together and I couldn’t agree more. However beautiful they are, after a while they all become a bit samey and you don’t really remember specific details. However, The Untold Story really bucked this trend and offers something much more memorable.

The combined use of reconstruction, mechanics and digital technologies that moved the visitor through a time line and series of experiences and encounters was hugely effective. It was also interspersed with more traditional galleries with text panels, objects on display and screens to interact with – the only drawback being that you didn’t really get a great deal of time to read this material before you were encouraged to move on, everything being timed. I suppose we could have gone around again, but the ‘wow’ factor might have worn off if we only wanted to read the more traditional bits and there was still so much to see. Also, given that much of Blenheim Palace is still an occupied private residence, this method is advantageous in that it presents a fair chunk of the Palace’s timeline in smaller space and doesn’t depend on access to authentic and original rooms. I’m not sure I’d be a fan of historic houses always opting for this approach, but it will certainly make Blenheim stand out in my memory and did add to my overall visitor experience.

As a side note, I also want to mention how much I loved the gardens - especially the fact that the huge lake and cascades are manmade and part of a design by Capability Brown, who was also responsible for much of the landscape at Longleat. The whole site, palace and gardens, made for a great experience as a visitor – there was so much to see both indoors and out, I loved it!



View looking back down the Avenue from the Column of Victory

Katy: I totally agree with Elle – The Untold Story was excellent! It really helped to explain the family’s history through the ages and worked well for Blenheim given the limited space. If you are slightly wary of live actors and the forced interaction that often occurs, this approach allowed you to be addressed directly and immerse in the time period without the pressure of bantering with the actors. I wish there had been more time to enjoy the interactive sections as they provided additional information about the family and the times, which was fascinating. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to achieve given the strict timing needed for the experience to run smoothly. I found it refreshing that the flaws and quirks of the various family members were acknowledged and explored, rather than presenting them as faultless heroes.  If you are visiting the Palace, I would encourage you to make sure to include this section in your itinerary for its unique approach to discovering the family’s history!

Did you find anything particularly surprising?

We don’t know if surprising is the right word or not, but we certainly hadn’t realised that Blenheim Palace wasn’t Winston Churchill’s family home, but rather was the ancestral home of the Churchill family as the Dukes of Marlborough. It took visiting Blenheim for us to piece together his family history and how it was his uncle who inherited the title of the 9^th Duke – we hadn’t quite worked out that Winston was a cousin of the direct line and not part of it.

Did anything else particularly stand out?

Katy: The grounds were particularly beautiful and I am tempted to return in order to spend the day exploring the secrets gardens, water features and temples at a much more leisurely pace than we did!



The Cascades

Elle: Yes, I suppose so. I was quite struck by how homely and warm it felt – there were lots of personal items, photographs and the like around which made it feel quite different from other stately homes I’ve been too. And I also hadn’t realised that Winston had trained as an Officer at Sandhurst (just down the road from me) and that he’d seen active service as a cavalry officer in the Queen’s Own Hussars. I have to admit this led me to admire him that little bit more, knowing he’d been a soldier (all be it an officer and war correspondent) because I suspect this later influenced his decisions as a wartime leader. It might not have, but I can’t see how that sort of experience wouldn’t influence you in some way.



There were lots of photographs all around the Palace

What was lacking?:

Elle: I’m not sure anything in particular was lacking, as a visitor I had a really good experience. Although, I suspect I agree with Katy here, that there needed to perhaps be a more balanced exhibit on Churchill, moving away from that narrative of him as the Great War Leader. It’s great they include his childhood and show the room in which he was born and romance with Clementine, but at the same time there’s a lot more that could have been said and challenged. I think it was safe, when it could have been more forward thinking in terms of the Winston Churchill story.

Katy: What Elle said. It would be great if they allowed people to move beyond the heroic image of Churchill; I have a deeper understanding and a cautious respect towards Winston thanks to the Churchill War rooms’ honest approach. I was a little disappointed that the history of the Palace being used during the Second World War was not emphasised more as that could be a really interesting way to engage the public beyond Winston as a leader.  Also, the oral history films of those who have lived or worked at the Palace are fascinating, and it would be great if these were made more obvious!

And most importantly, how was the cake? Well it wouldn’t be a public history outing without sampling the cuisine…

Katy: It was extremely delicious and the generous portion was excellent value for money. I would recommend sharing it...

Elle: Never thought I’d say it, but that wedge of cake defeated me!

So would we recommend it?

Both: It’s definitely worth a visit!

We'll be back...!

A Change of Focus - The history of the slave trade as told in two different museums

Over the last month or so I’ve been fortunate enough to delve into an area of history that I haven’t looked at for quite a while. Once you find your area, the thing that makes you tick, that subject becomes all-consuming, taking all your energy and attention and for me that was the Victorian period and animal studies. But a friend of mine is doing a lot of research into the Slave Trade and I’ve recently joined her on a couple of museum visits, to view exhibitions focused on the topic.

Now the history of slavery and the abolition movement is something I have studied in the past. My first introduction to it being in Year 9, when I first engaged with the transatlantic slave trade and the ‘triangular trade’ and first heard of Olaudah Equiano. But it was some years before I returned to the subject again, when I opted in the second year of undergrad to take the History of the British Empire 1763-1900 module and would later write my essay on the importance of slave narratives to the abolition movement.

Museum of London Docklands
Authors own photo.

However, it’s been a refreshing change to return to the subject and divert my focus from the work I’ve been doing. To be able to engage with a different area of history and to view exhibitions as purely a visitor and not necessarily as a critic has been a rather nice position to be in. But I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t have a few thoughts to share on what I’ve seen. There are two examples I’d like to discuss. The first being Museum of London Docklands Gallery, London, Sugar and Slavery , and the second, the M-Shed’s exhibition on Bristol’s involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the Bristol People Gallery.

The first observation I have is how influential it can be visiting these sorts of places with someone who is so interested in and passionate about the subject that an exhibition or museum focuses on because when they engage, you naturally do as well. I’m really of the opinion that museums and galleries should be places of exchange and dialogue, not silent halls that epitomise that traditional, oppressive museum atmosphere. And when you visit with someone who is actively engaging with what they are looking at or reading, that’s exactly what you get and that is in so many ways more beneficial to your overall learning experience.

Often that other person will be able to tell you something that’s missing, or a different view point that they’ve read and you begin to see more of the bigger picture, than can be conveyed in that particular space or with the funds available. And I didn’t just notice this on these particular visits, but also when viewing a Monet exhibition with my friend who’s a Monet enthusiast and at the Freud Museum in Vienna, where my friend worked on a project to produce a walking tour. I can still tell you now things I learnt from those three individuals having visited places with them and engaged with their particular specific interests. I don’t proclaim to know anywhere near as much as they do, but I now know more because I was inspired by their enthusiasm to learn about those topics.

Plaque in the dock area
Authors own photo.

So what of the exhibitions we went to view. Well let’s start with London, Sugar and Slavery exhibition. If you’ve read my blog recently you’ll have seen how unimpressed I was with the Museum of London Docklands overall and many of those criticisms also, sadly, extend to this exhibit. At a theoretical level it’s fantastic and I base that assessment on what I understand of its aims – to readdress the narrative focus away from the efforts of the parliamentarians and to prioritise the experience of those enslaved; particularly dissenters and black abolitionists. But to be honest, you could have fooled me, the section on resistance being all too easy to overlook in favour the table where the bill was drafted. If it hadn’t been for my friend telling the aim of the exhibition and having done a little reading online, I’d have missed that completely if I’m honest. I felt it was badly executed, either that or its dated very badly since its unveiling in 2007.

Unfortunately it has adopted the “book on the wall” approach. There is loads of information, but I’d question its layout and also some glaring oversights. For example, in some cases there weren’t captions to pictures so you had no idea where they came from, who created them or who they featured. While in others instances where there were captions of who pictures depicted, there was limited information beyond a name so their relevance could easily be missed by an ‘unknowing’ visitor – thankfully I had an expert to assist!  I noticed this in particular about Mary Prince, a picture featured early on in the exhibition but her ‘role’ if you like, wasn’t explained until much later.

Captions at M-Shed
Authors own Photo

That said, there were some really interesting nuggets of information, but they were all too often buried in huge wads of text – personally I would have picked them out and centred them in some areas of blank space, of which there were quite a few. Drawing on my later example as comparison, Bristol did this particularly well, having quotes running round the top of the exhibition space and across the front of the display cases.

I would commend the use good use of oral testimony by the Museum of London, in the contemporary section of the exhibition and this added a level of engagement that otherwise was quite underwhelming. But again, I also felt there was a missed opportunity to show the modern link to human trafficking in the 21^st century, especially in terms of connecting with a younger audience. So often youngsters question why the past is relevant and I think this exhibition could have provided a strong example of why it is and why it’s important to possess knowledge of history. As I said of the whole museum, it just felt very flat and lacking in anything that might provoke more than superficial engagement.

Bristol and the transatlantic slave trade diagram
Authors Own Photo

But I think that’s enough of my whinging about that particular museum. To Bristol. It’s notable in that it’s both a smaller museum and exhibition but as soon as I walked in I was immediately more impressed. The huge diagram of the triangular trade that greets you as you walk into the gallery was both eye-catching and informative. It wasn’t just simple black lines between London, West Africa and the Caribbean, but it featured pictures, statistics, item lists and captions which demonstrated the nature of what was being traded, who funded it and enormity of it. It was off to a good start. It actually told more of what you perhaps didn’t necessarily want to know, the unpalatable truth about the subject. It dealt with that head on and I responded really well to that.

M Shed Exhibition
Authors own photo

In essence it is all shown in a small room, but it used all the tools I wanted to have seen in London.  It made good use of technology (most of which was actually working) and which allowed you to engage with the material beyond what was on display. The interactive screens also offered sound bites, which although limited, catered to a more multi-sensory experience. The only drawback was that you couldn’t take a seat and peruse through the material more comfortably.

Contemporary Link
Authors own photo

The cabinets of objects on display were also not static. They were fuller for starters, but also had clear object lists and as I previously said, quotes were placed on the glass which immediately drew your attention. There was also a map of the area showing buildings that were constructed from the profits made from the trade and the modern thread was also clearly present. In the centre of the room there was a large table with contemporary newspaper articles focusing on the legacy of the slave trade and also to one side, an interactive screen which invites visitors to vote about whether Bristol should commemorate the Slave Trade in some way. The effort to make it relevant and contemporary was much obvious here and also more successful. You were being invited for your opinion and it successfully engaged me.

The only slight odd thing about it was that slightly apart from the main exhibit you had continued display on the slave trade but it was tied into a thematic display on activism in Bristol, so the information on resistance and role of women in abolition movement was a little more difficult to find. It was effective having it encompassed in that thematic display but did feel a little separate from the main exhibition. 

I have to admit it was also helpful to have a guide who knew so much more than the exhibition divulged because it was quite limited. But I didn’t tire of this exhibit like I had done in London, despite its smaller size. I was quite happy reading the information and navigating my own way around, because there was so much to engage with in so many different ways.

We couldn’t really have picked two more contrasting places. I was disappointed by one, while the other exceeded all expectations. It just goes to show that actually the scale of a museum doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality of visitor experience, for in this case I would say the M-Shed outshone the Museum of London and that is something I didn’t expected I’d be saying.