a case for benign neglect

Several days ago Courtney wrote a wonderful post on Style Court about the magnificent 18th-century state bed at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, with its original Chinese embroidered silk hangings ~ an extraordinary bed from an extraordinary house. Her post brought back a flood of memories from my visit there two summers ago.

The National Trust, which has owned and administered the house since 1984, bills Calke Abbey as an example of "the country house in decline." Indeed, it has all the trappings of 18th-century opulence, Victorian innovation and obsession, and 20th-century eccentricity. All of which, when finally met with impoverished circumstances has produced a property that is, quite literally, a time capsule. Over the years, nothing was thrown away ~ the rooms filled floor to ceiling with vitrines of stuffed birds, egg collections, hunting trophies, old prints, books, textiles, furniture, and other curiosities.

When the Trust took over the derelict house, they had no idea of the bed's existence. Curators were shocked to find it stored in its original boxes, and speculate that the bed was never installed in the house because the ceilings were not high enough to accommodate it. Through simple neglect, the colors and integrity of the fabric have been beautifully preserved. In terms of the house itself, the Trust decided not to attempt to "restore" it to any particular time period, but to keep it as they found it. While the house may seem chaotic, each object has been meticulously catalogued, each peel of wallpaper and plaster crack thoroughly documented to maintain "authenticity."

Some find the house disturbing, its shabbiness depressing. I was fascinated by its moody stillness, dark passages and curious rooms. And of course the theatrical nature of it all appealed to my camera.

Photographs taken July 2008 at Calke Abbey (more here!).