Killerton House - Hannah More

This painting in Killerton House is of Hannah More and is by H. W. Pickersgill.

Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, Romantic and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical philanthropist. I have read her biography and a number of her works and she is a fascinating character.

Killerton House - the grounds

The grounds or Killerton House contain some magnificent trees and there are views over the Devon countryside.

The toilets are housed in the former dairy.

The bark of a Snake Bark Mqple.

These two Tulip Trees are champion trees - i.e. the largest of their kind in the country.

Autumn Crocus.

In 2002 this Giant Redwood had a diameter of 7 feet and a height of 125 feet.

Cones forming on a Cryptomeria japonica.

A tall specimen of Tsuga heterophylla.

Where sheep may safely graze.

Comon Frog.

Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus).

Dovecote.

Killerton House Chapel

This chapel in he grounds of Killerton House was built in 1841. The architect C R Cockerell was scathing in his view of the commission given to him by Sir Thomas Acland which was to base the design on that of the chapel of Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury. He wrote that if Sir Thomas was 'still bent on Joseph of Glastonbury, do not think of neutralising, castrating and emasculating the copy of that noble building & flattering yourself that you have what will be worthy of the original - either have an original work altogether or a correct reproduction.'

This beautiful rose window in the West wall was based on one a Barfeston in Kent.

For pictures of the pulpit see Rambles.

Killerton House

On Thursday we went to Killerton House and Gardens - a National Trust property gifted in 1944 by Sir Richard Acland.

The House is not particularly remarkable (though I shall do a post about the interior on another day) - being built in 1778 - but the gardens, part of a 6,399 acre estate, are fantastic. The house, designed by John Johnson, was originally intended as a temporary dwelling while a grander building was created on the slopes higher up but the larger house never materialised.

The entrance porch is one of a number of additions to the house, having been added in 1924 by Sir Francis Acland, the fourteenth Baronet.

The ship's cannon on the forecourt are from the Acland family's yacht 'The Lady of St Kilda' in which Sir Thomas Acland and his wife \lydia made many intrepid voyages in the 1830s. The guns were last fired in 1935 to celebrate the double victory of Sir Francis Acland and his son Richard in the general election.

The house looks out over beautiful East Devon countryside.