MONTACUTE HOUSE AND LORD CURZON

摘要

We visited Montacute House in the county of Somerset in one sunny morning during our stay in England. Montacute House, an Elizabethan house made of locally available honey-brown ham stone, was originally built in the sixteenth century by Sir Edward Phelips, a wealthy ambitious lawyer and a member of Elizabeth I's parliament. He was knighted in 1603 and a year later became the Speaker of the House. The house has huge living rooms, dining rooms, guest rooms etc. with expensive furniture of the time demonstrating Phelip's lofty position and success. It is said that the gallery which runs over 50 metres along the length of the third floor, was used for entertaining important guests and for exercise in inclement weather, is the longest surviving gallery in Britain. However, the wealth and the fame of Phelips family did not last very long. One of his descendants in the family was a staunch gambler, so much so that he lost almost all the fortunes. The situation was such that the revenues earned from the agricultural land of the mortgaged property were not sufficient to survive. Selling off valuables like silver and art works delayed the inevitable. But finally the house was allowed to be rented in 1911 when the Phelipses moved out of the house and never returned thereafter.