The Georgian period gave us many of Britain’s most beautiful buildings – in cities, towns and villages. Yet much of our Georgian inheritance remains in danger...

£90 (inc. lunch)

Members will visit two enchanting early Georgian houses in Godmanchester, possibly by the same local builder for prominent and prosperous public servants who belonged to influential local families which provided many bailiffs of Godmanchester.

Farm Hall ‒ Charles Clarke, Recorder of Huntingdon, MP and Baron of the Exchequer, rebuilt much of his family’s house in 1746.  His sons included Gen Thomas Clarke of Farm Hall  and Field Marshal Sir Alured Clarke, Governor-General and C-in-C of India. In 1945  German scientists were interned at Farm Hall to establish whether Nazi Germany had been constructing an atomic bomb.  Their recorded conversations suggested this had not been the case.  Farm Hall is not open to the public and since the late 1970s has been the home of Professor Marcial Echenique OBE and his wife Maria Louisa who will kindly welcome members.

Commanding a remarkably rural aspect to N and S, this red-brick 3-storey house has similar 5-bay elevations N and S (garden), the central 3 projecting under pediments with closer-set windows. To the N is a pedimented Doric porch and to the S an arched central first-floor window making a Venetian statement with its neighbours. The W wing, built by Clarke’s father Alured c 1710, is set back one bay from the N front and projects into the garden, the tall parapet of the main block continuing round the wing.  Internally there are two fine staircases with matching detail, and chimneypieces and panelling contemporary with the two building phases.  The N-S axis of the house is marked by a lime avenue leading S from the garden and a poplar avenue framing a canal leading N to the Great Ouse.

Island Hall was built in 1749 for John Jackson, Receiver-General of Huntingdon, and like his father, Original Jackson, a bailiff of Godmanchester. In 1804 the estate was bought by Jacob Julian Baumgartner, a merchant of Huguenot Swiss extraction, whose wife Tryce Parrat inherited Godmanchester and Cambridgeshire property from her Tryce (Godmanchester bailiffs since 1600) and Percy forbears.  Her Baumgartner heirs changed their name to Percy during the first World War.  Later decline from RAF requisition, conversion to council flats and a fire was reversed when Island Hall was bought in 1983 by a sixth-generation descendant of J J Baumgartner, Christopher Vane Percy, the leading interior designer, and his wife Lady Linda as their family home.

The striking feature of each red-brick, 7-bay E and W elevation is the slightly projecting pedimented 3-bay central block, its taller first-floor windows accentuating its height.  Each front has a Tuscan porch and stone dressings. Internally the oak staircase with twisted balusters links the hall and first-floor gallery, each with Doric screens of fluted columns; contemporary chimneypieces and carved overdoors abound. Outside the lawn sweeps from the house to Jackson’s Chinese bridge, rebuilt in 1988 and linking it to the island in the Great Ouse and borrowed view of the extensive Portholme water meadow beyond.

Lunch will be at Island Hall. Andrew Wells leads.

Transport is likely to be provided from a nearby station – details will be provided closer to the time.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

This event is for members only.

£15

“He was the most spiteful, sly, and vindictive and wicked man I have ever met.” Written by his nephew, this brutally honest inscription begins one volume of the lost private journals of John Margesson Esq (1794-1866), which was discovered by chance in a quantity of books bought on eBay in 2010. Covering two years of Margesson’s life, from Summer 1831 to Summer 1833, the journal begins with his return from exile in France to the Sussex country house where he grew up, before moving to London, and ending in Rome via France. Written for himself in beautiful copperplate, he gives an intimate and intensely personal glimpse into his life, his wanderings and his musings as he goes about his daily life. In this lively and entertaining lecture, we will take the role of a private detective and use Margesson’s own words and supporting research to piece together this Regency man of means, including:
• The potentially scandalous story behind his mysterious exile
• His walks through, and observations of, Regency London
• His obsessions with the weather, health, and the meaning of life
• His daily life and finances
• His love of gardens and botany
• His sexuality.
Each element will be put into the context of the age and will be illustrated with etchings, illustrations and, where possible, photographs. We’ll also examine the current affairs and notable characters he mentions and how they were received and perceived at the time by a wealthy, well-connected, and often very opinionated ‘gentleman’.

Mark Hill studied History of Art & Architecture and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby’s where he was a Specialist in the Collectors’ Department. He became director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions and was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17. He founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has since published over 12 books on specialist subjects in 20th-century design and decorative arts. A Miscellaneous expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007, he has co-presented three primetime factual TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. He also runs 20th-century design auctions in partnership with Dawsons Auctioneers and has lectured across the world, including at the V&A in London, and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking