A Visit to the 19th Century

Middlethorpe Hall at dusk

I’m travelling through England as I write this, finding inspiration and learning lots of useful information for future books. I now know how to recognize coaching inns, market towns, moors, and much more; I understand better about parsons and parsonages and why Mr. Collins’ first duty was to collect tithes. I can now put myself mentally in the correct landscape. I’ve seen fellow authors Jane Odiwe and Juliet Archer, and talked plot for hours with two as-yet-unpublished writers in the Austen-inspired novel field. I’ve managed to stay one step ahead of the floods, but have dealt with enough deluges to make me think I’m re-enacting Mr. Darcy’s Refuge. I’ve had far too many adventures to cover in one blog post, so I’m going to focus on my most recent adventure.

My friend and I have been staying in various inexpensive B&Bs around the country, but we decided to have one big splurge and spend two nights at Middlethorpe Hall, a 1699 country house in York run by the National Trust as a hotel, with all profits going to the National Trust. It’s been restored to the appearance of a 18th century manor, furnished with antiques and including extensive gardens. I was hoping to soak up some good atmosphere for my new book by spending a couple of days in surroundings where Darcy would have felt at home.

To be honest, I was expecting to feel rather out of place, since ‘elegant’ and ‘upper crust’ aren’t words you’d usually think of in the same sentence with me. Also, I expected it would basically be a historic hotel which happened to have a couple of antique furnished lobbies. I was wrong on all counts.

There are ten rooms and suites in the manor. We stayed in the cheapest, which was still very nice and distinctly manor-style even if it was on the third floor and up the servant staircase. There are half a dozen public rooms, all furnished and decorated appropriately to the period, and I think I’ve spent time in all of them. Having the formal gardens completely to myself made me feel like it really was something private to me, even if the reason the gardens were empty was that it was too chilly for any of the more sensible guests to venture out. Afternoon tea was served in one of the sitting rooms rather than the restaurant, adding great verisimilitude.

 

The staff went to great lengths to make us feel personally taken care of. All the staff seemed to know us immediately and worked unobtrusively to make our lives easier. When the taxi dropped us off as we returned from a trip into York on a cold rainy day, the porter opened the door before we reached it with our room key in his hand.

 

We then made a quick trip up to our room to change into dry clothes, then came downstairs to have afternoon tea. Since we were still damp (I’m pretending here that we didn’t actually look like drowned rats), the porter led us into the smaller sitting room/library where he lit the fire to warm the room for us. We had our tea in glorious privacy there. My friend had mentioned disliking a particular food item at dinner the night before, and it was quietly left off from the tea tray. It was fascinating to see how quickly we stopped noticing the staff working in the background to take care of this or that. I could get used to that!

 

I’ll close with some pictures of the gardens and park, including a willow walk by the lake, and the good news that sitting at the antique desk at Middlethorpe Hall gave me the inspiration to start a new story. I’m very excited about it – and I may just have to use Middlethorpe as the setting! If you’d like to see these pictures in a larger size, I’ll be posting an album of these and more on my facebook page.


 

 

 

17 comments on “A visit to the 19th century”

    1. Victoria Connelly
      This looks absolutely gorgeous! No wonder you were inspired!

    1. Ceri
      How beautiful! You’re right about the rain though, it’s very apt that Mr Darcy’s Refuge has come out now as there has been so much rain in the UK this year, and now flooding too, glad you’ve managed to stay clear of it.

    1. Jane Odiwe
      It was lovely to see you Abigail-though not too long afterwards my naughty gallstones went into overdrive and I ended up spending a week in Bath hospital! C’est la vie!I am so envious of your stay here-this place looks wonderful-so glad you’re both enjoying your holiday. Have fun!

    1. Stephanie L
      so jealous…but so happy for you! Well, and happy for the rest of us! That your trip would inspire you to write something new for the rest of us to enjoy! :grin: The pictures are lovely. Some day when I grow up, I intend to visit England. My ancestors and my love of all things Jane demands it. Thank you for sharing a piece of your travels!! Try and stay dry!

    1. Cherri T.
      Thank you so much Abigail for sharing this trip with your readers! I almost feel like I was there. So beautiful, sigh..

    1. AngieK
      Holy cow!!!

    1. Pearl Hewitt
      :grin: I know the weather is cold and wet but your photos still look fantastic. You are making me miss home a lot. Not that I ever frequented the places you’ve been to but when I go back to visit family next year I may just have to visit Middlethorpe for myself. York is not too far from where I grew up near Newcastle Upon Tyne and it seems like a perfect destination for a day out with my mother.Also, if you decide to include Middlethorpe in your next book it would be quite nice to have been there in person when I read it. :lol:

    1. Marilyn Brant
      What a fabulous trip, Abigail!!Thanks for sharing a little piece of it with us and posting so many lovely pictures, too! ;)

    1. Karen Doornebos
      Gorgeous, Abigail! Thanks so much for sharing… Soak it all in, ha ha!

    1. Jennifer Leiker
      What a wonderful experience! Lovely pictures of the garden. Thank you for sharing. And I can wait to read the inspiration the surroundings have you!

    1. Karana
      What a great time. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am sure we all wish we were there too.

    1. Vera Nazarian
      Oh, Abigail, those garden pictures are glorious! The willows! The greenery! How jealous I am feeling now, that you got to have the tea and sat in those historical rooms, and just about everything, soaking up that atmosphere… Thank you for the wonderful post! :-)

    1. Monica P
      How pretty! I’m so envious. I’m glad you’re enjoying your travels and are getting lots of inspiration (yay for us! :) )

    1. Lúthien84
      I’m jealous too but at the same time glad that you have a wonderful trip. So thanks for sharing your story and pictures with us. I hope my memories of England will be as good as yours when I do get the chance to visit. The good thing though is that we, the readers, also benefit from it. :razz:

    1. Kat
      Thank you for sharing. Those pictures are so inspiring I can’t imagine what it must be like to actually be there!Looking forward to enjoying the products of your inspiration, as always. Enjoy soaking up the atmosphere!!!

    1. Regina Jeffers
      The pictures are beautifully haunting, Abigail.

    1. JuneA**
      Lovely photos and commentary, thank you for sharing! if it wasn’t for my armchair traveling, I wouldn’t get anywhere! :grin:

18 comments

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    • Lisa G. on February 4, 2014 at 3:24 pm
    • Reply

    Living in Australia places such as this are few and far between, so I just love seeing your travel photos. The house and it’s rooms look amazing and afternoon tea by the fire? Its one of favourite things to imagine when I read English novels. I absolutely love the garden photos especially the one with the willows.

    1. I could happily have stayed there quite a long time! The willows were lovely – they made me want to write a scene with Darcy and Elizabeth walking under the willows.

    • Kathy Sader on February 4, 2014 at 3:28 pm
    • Reply

    What a wonderful trip!

    1. It was fabulous. I only wish I could do it all over again!

    • Carol hoyt on February 4, 2014 at 9:32 pm
    • Reply

    Abigail! Thank you so much for sharing your trip and such beautiful picture!

    I will admit that I am envious of your trip!

    1. Looking at the pictures makes me want to go back, too!

    • Chanpreet on February 4, 2014 at 11:35 pm
    • Reply

    I must admit to being jealous. I’ve never been in England besides a brief layover once in Heathrow when I was too much of a good girl to venture about. I’m an Anglophile as well as lover of all things old. I loved hearing about your adventure. I too don’t fit the bill of elegant and prestigious but I hope to enjoy my visit when I do and soak in all the atmosphere when I do. Thanks for sharing the photographs!

    1. It’s a great chance to soak up the atmosphere. I was also in England on a short layover in 2011 – landed, took the train to Bath, spent two nights, took the train back to Heathrow and got on a plane. Very quick, but I managed to see a lot!

    • Anji on February 6, 2014 at 7:58 am
    • Reply

    I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to the UK, Abigail, especially the visit to God’s Own County as Yorkshire is sometimes know. Middlethorpe Hall sounds wonderful and your phots are lovely.

    We live only about 45 minutes drive away from there. I think we’ll have to pop in for afternoon tea next time we’re in the area! Appranetly they now do a chocolate and champagne themed one. What’s not to like about that!

      • Anji on February 6, 2014 at 8:00 am
      • Reply

      Apparently, I can’t spell “apparently”! And I missed an “n” off “known” on the first line.

        • Anji on February 6, 2014 at 8:02 am
        • Reply

        What’s wrong with me? I also missed the second “o” out of photos!

    1. Chocolate and champagne tea? Now I really want to go back!!!

    • Deborah on February 8, 2014 at 1:58 pm
    • Reply

    Thank you for reposting this. The gardens are beautiful. I do eventually want to revisit England and am noting places to go. When I was there with my grandparents 35 years ago we went yo London….but there is do much more. Thank you for sharing.

    1. I could spend months just seeing gardens in England. I hope you’ll be able to get back to England. While London has great cultural attractions, I find it’s the countryside and historical sites there that touch me most.

    • Anji on February 9, 2014 at 3:00 am
    • Reply

    Well, if you ever do get back to this neck of the woods, maybe we could meet and try it together!

    I didn’t realise, until I was looking at the National Trust website, that Middlethorpe Hall was formerly owned by the Terry family and was very near to the Terry chocolate factory. Hence the chocolate conection.

    1. I’d love to have tea with you! And I’m always up for chocolate. 😉

    • Deborah on February 13, 2014 at 12:15 pm
    • Reply

    I love natue and history and so when I finally get back I plan on visiting the Dales and many of the historical sites….I also want to see some of the sites used in filming both the 1995 BBC version of P&P as well as the 2005 version. It would be interesting. When we travel in the US (I live in NY) we usually plan our vacations to museums in other areas of the country or go to National Parks and do a combination of both…..I’ve also researched my husband’s family tree….mine is sketchy (peasants)…but found my husband is a descendent of the Brocketts (brockett Hall in Hertfordshire) and the (no joke) D’Arcys that came over with William the Conquerer, so have many things to consider….I also love exploring old ruins(did that in Germany with family), but walks in gardens and woods are wonderful and relaxing

    1. How fabulous to have a D’Arcy connection! I made it to Lyme Park (Pemberley, 1995) and Basildon Park (Netherfield, 2005) last year, and it was marvelous.

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