THIS BLESSED PLOT

Although I make this statement through the gritted teeth of a loyal Scotsman, it has to be freely admitted that England is incomparably more beautiful than any of the other home countries in terms of its townscapes, rural estates and public buildings. Indeed England possesses some of the finest examples in Europe of cathedrals, churches, stately homes and villages and London is arguably the loveliest capital in the world.

This happy situation is the product of long years of peace and social stability. The last battle on British soil was Culloden in 1746, on English at Sedgemoor in 1685 but fundamentally England has been at peace with itself since the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660.The soil of England itself did not suffer the destructive horrors of the French Revolution, the long Napoleonic Wars, convulsions in Italy, the Prussian wars and above all the collapse of civilisations in Russia and elsewhere triggered by the Great War. Somehow a foolish Stuart dynasty gave way to an absentee or oddball Hanoverian monarchy which, allied to a complaisant Anglican church, tolerated the development of a constitutional parliamentary regime, which governed England well enough not to provoke the upheavals which stained other states with blood in the last 350 years.

My own credentials for writing about England are modest enough. I lived 3 years in Oxford, 31 years in London and 7 in the Cotswolds. As a Scotsman I always felt a guest there; I was an enthusiastic tourist and my career in investment banking enabled me to visit a large number of mainly industrial places. I tour by car and shamefully eschew unnecessary walking, so my knowledge of the Lakes, the Dales, the Pennine Way, the Downs and the West Country is sketchy and what follows refers only to places I have visited and I naturally have my favourites. 

Ironically, credit for the present happy state of much of England lies with three controversial institutions – the Crown, the Aristocracy and the Church of England. Sadly the beauty of England is not nation-wide. There is little aesthetic pleasure to be derived from visiting great cities like Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle or Leicester. Birmingham is only marginally redeemed by its canals and Liverpool by its Mersey setting and sumptuous Anglican cathedral. In swathes of England, the uninspired architects and useless local authority planners of the 1950s-70s erected hideous office buildings, feeble shopping centres, gimcrack housing estates, often supplemented by an ugly heritage of tired Victorian buildings. To be fair, recent efforts at improvement have been made but a mountain remains to be climbed and eyesores abound. Yet the good triumphantly overpowers the bad.

Durham Cathedral

Taking the high road to England, as Scotsmen must, we first encounter Holy Island across its causeway, rousing the shades of Bede and Dark Age monks, wildly situated. Then the wonderful sight of Durham Cathedral, probably the finest Romanesque building in Europe, towering massively over the historic town and university, with its tremendous nave columns, deeply incised in the Norman manner, Galilee porch and colossal proportions. Yorkshire has many pleasures like Richmond and magically floating Castle Howard. York itself with its walls, Shambles and majestic (if somehow unlovable) Minster is a great city. The surprise is further South in the unpromising East Riding startling us with the fine churches at Hedon and Patrington culminating in unforgettable Beverley Minster, its façade the epitome of Gothic elegance without and delicate stone carved arcades within.

We enter Derbyshire graced with the elegant park, water garden and treasure-house of Chatsworth, incomparable demesne of the Dukes of Devonshire. Nearby Kedleston, with its dramatic classical atrium, displays a sequence of lovely Adam rooms and Hardwick smiles in its Tudor splendour. But best of all is Haddon Hall, the quintessential stately home, nestling in deciduous trees, edged by its river and internally magically medieval. Further east takes us to Lincolnshire and the delicious county town itself, cobbled 18^th century streets and heart-stopping Lincoln Cathedral, perhaps the finest in England, all complete with lofty tower, Angel Choir and quality stone carving everywhere. We move to Stamford, clad in its mellow stone and nearby magnificent Burghley with its Elizabethan towers, great art collection and huge park.

Haddon Hall

As we enter Norfolk from the North, we enjoy the wonderful limestone Marshland churches like Walpole St Peter and West Walton before relaxing in the pretty fishing village of Blakeney with its wide horizons and treacherous mudflats. East Anglia’s flint-stone village buildings give huge pleasure, alongside devout but flamboyant Walsingham, delicious Norwich with its cathedral and cobbled quarter and the stunning façade of the cathedral at Peterborough.

Cobbled Elm Hill, Norwich

Suffolk gives us the incomparable woodwork of the churches at Lavenham and Long Melford but turning West we soon come to the unrivalled beauties of Cambridge, its monumental colleges delighting the eye, especially fan-vaulted Kings College Chapel, supplemented by the unique watery Backs. A short trip takes us to Ely Cathedral, the first glimpse of whose lantern tower is one of life’s unforgettable moments. Entering Essex we soon encounter palatial Jacobean, Adam and Gothick Audley End and the lovely country town of Saffron Walden, before Outer London encroaches.

Skirting London westwards, we drop in on the Jacobean pile of Hatfield, wonderfully lavish, then strike out to Oxford and the ensemble of some 30 colleges in mellow Cotswold stone ranging from grandiose Christ Church, elegant Oriel to cosily domestic St Edmund Hall, great havens of civilisation. Not far off is the huge palace at Blenheim, masterpiece of Hawksmoor and Vanburgh, full of fine art, the exotic tastes of late Victorian England and a memorable park.

St Edmund Hall, Oxford

Bearing north and west we find the welcoming oasis of Lichfield, its triple spired cathedral giving warm pleasure and statues of Boswell and Johnson greeting each other politely across the market square. South again to Worcester, its lovely cathedral, redolent of Elgar, epitomises England, overlooking the Severn and the charming county cricket ground. Then down to venerable Gloucester, whose fan-vaulted Cathedral cloisters and huge East window are heart-stopping.

On to the glorious Cotswolds, untouched by the industrial revolution, entered through the idiosyncratic main street of Burford in a jumble of period styles and its high-spired wool church. Village after lovely village follow, a favourite being Chipping Campden with its mellow stone. Down the escarpment takes us to some fine Regency terraces at Cheltenham, but for a real feast we carry on to Georgian Bath, the European jewel on the Avon, owing much to the Woods and Robert Adam who respectively gave us the gorgeous Circus and Pulteney Bridge in lovely Bath stone.

The Circus, Bath

Bristol is a great city, with its gentrified bustling port and boasts one of the largest parish churches in England, the flamboyant masterpiece St Mary Redcliffe. South brings us to charming Wells Cathedral with its distinctive figure-fronted façade, and not far away are the varied attractions of impressive Elizabethan Longleat. The West Country has holiday resorts a-plenty like charming Sidmouth and palm-fringed Torquay and the fine city of Exeter is most notable for its lierne-vaulted Cathedral.

Reader, have courage – we are heading home. The sweep east soon takes us to the Early English and Decorated Gothic perfection of Salisbury Cathedral in its Close and beautiful precincts and nearby ravishing Wilton House of the famous Double Cube Room, created by Inigo Jones and now with William Kent and Chippendale furniture. Further east, we pass the lovely New Forest and enter historic Winchester, steeped in Arthurian legend, boasting yet another splendid Cathedral and its world-famous College. Skirting proud naval Portsmouth, we hug the coast to Sussex and gracious theatrical and ecclesiastical Chichester, the lovely race-course at Goodwood and past Catholic Arundel before reaching bubbly Brighton, with its extraordinary and idiosyncratic Royal Pavilion, fine fish restaurants and famous Lanes.

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Swinging through the orchards of Kent we find Canterbury and its incomparable Cathedral of many periods but tangible sanctity. Kent has other opulent treasures at Hever, Leeds Castle, Penshurst and Knole, but our destination is London.

And what a destination! Coming in from the West, fabulous Syon House gives an elegant Adam welcome in unpromising Brentford and Lord Burlington’s Palladian Chiswick House is “one of the most civilised public amenities in England.”

Chiswick House

Soon we are in South Kensington bristling with world-class museums and on to the great emporia of Knightsbridge and the West End, with their residential squares and terraces. Royal residences abound but most of all London rejoices in extensive and cherished parks at St James’s, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, the green lungs of the city. The historic City maintains its distinct identity, overlooked by the splendour of majestic St Paul’s but Wren was not idle elsewhere, and designed many of the City’s fine collection of churches. The joys of London are endless.

The Mall and Buckingham Palace

The patience of my readers has already been tested and I have made many omissions as I canter through the topography of England: not a word about the pubs, the quiet walks, the gentle landscape and the unexpected tranquillity of this wonderful country.  Furthermore, what gives England its unique character is the nature of the people, phlegmatic, polite, practical and infused with a native good-humour. This character is what makes England truly “This Blessed Plot”.

SMD

5.8.11

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2011 and 2015