Visiting Chastleton House - film location for Wolf Hall

By - Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett


Arriving at Chastleton House

Hilary Mantel's award winning historical novel Wolf Hall, chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, was mainly filmed on location in South Wales and the South West region of England. This was brilliant because most of the properties belonged to the National Trust, and were ideal places to visit with my groups.  As always, the preparations were shrouded in secrecy because the BBC production team were paranoid about spoilers.  I discussed the film with my group, which they had very much enjoyed, however we were curious as to how the BBC were going to recreate the Tudor period back in King Henry VIII's time. 


The Courtyard

Having discussed the TV production we decided to visit Chastleton House in the Cotswolds just on the borders of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.  As we arrived there was a signpost in the courtyard pointing out a small exhibition to show how the house was rearranged to cater for the filming some of the scenes, which was very helpful.  I hasten to add, Chastleton House was just one of many locations for the film.  Before we even entered the house, we crossed the courtyard where Thomas Cromwell's father had worked as a blacksmith and a brewer.  The exhibition showed us the changes made to the courtyard and the buildings which really took us back to the film. We remembered and discussed the scenes where Thomas Cromwell had flashbacks to his youth where his drunk and brutal father had kicked and beaten him within an inch of his life. 

Cardinal Wolsey's Bedroom

The inside of Chastleton House was used for several very different scenes.  The photograph on the left is how a visitor would see the great parlour today, it has a particularly fine ceiling and a tapestry depicting a musical party in a country house garden.  In the film this became a guest bedroom in the Seymour's house where Thomas Cromwell slept during King Henry VIII's progress.  You have to imagine the room without the dining table and chairs. Imagine a four poster bed with curtain hangings and bedspreads in front of the tapestry, the wall lights disguised and out of shot, and you have the scene.


The dining hall at the Seymour's house

Chastleton House has a medieval screen passage and hall which was in keeping with a Tudor Manor House.  In the 16th and early 17th centuries the hall would have been used for receiving guests and as a place where the household would have gathered.  In the film Wolf Hall this room was converted to the dining hall of the Seymour's house.  King Henry VIII was having dinner with his courtiers and the Seymour family, when he surprised everybody by falling asleep. It was Jane Seymour who got up from the table and went to wake the King.  A small deed but it got her noticed....

The Long Gallery

This long, barrel-vaulted room was where the family would take their exercise on a cold and wet day.  In the film this is where Thomas Cromwell had a long chat with Anne Boleyn as they looked out of the window to watch King Henry VIII accepting the resignation of his Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More.

Homemade tea and cakes in the churchyard

The story of the family who owned Chastleton House from 1612 - 1991 before handing it over to the care of the National Trust is a fascinating one.  To have seen the film Wolf Hall and to be able to recognise the rooms as you explore the house is very exciting.  I can most certainly recommend a visit.
Refreshments were available in the church next door and, as it was a sunny afternoon, we sat outside amongst the gravestones enjoying cups of tea and homemade cakes.

 

A Ghost Walk around Prestbury, the most haunted village in Gloucestershire

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett



The haunted pub at the start of our walk

It was a cold, blustery, dark and eerie evening when I met 23 members of the Cheltenham branch of the Federation of Small Businesses for a stiff drink at the Plough Inn, Prestbury. Were we warming ourselves, chatting too much or just nervously 'raising the spirits' in preparation for our ghost walk?

Cathy, the landlady smiled knowingly, and promised to tell us about the spooks and spectres around the pub on our return. But first, as darkness had descended upon the familiar day-time world of this small village, we decided that it was time to set off and uncover the strange stories of the ghouls and ghosts that haunt the churchyard, dimly lit lanes and cottages at night. An owl hooted and we huddled together. With our senses alert, we listened for the sound of a galloping horse often heard by people around here.  Alongside the pub, in low tones I recounted the terrible event in the village's history that caused this ghostly horse to bolt:-

It was during the Civil War in 17th century that Oliver Cromwell had arranged for many of his officers to be billeted in the village. Some of the enemy had an encampment at nearby Sudeley Castle. Cromwell and his men knew that from time to time messages would be sent from the camp to Royalist troops who had besieged the nearby city of Gloucester and he ordered an ambush to be prepared in readiness.

As expected, a King's messenger was spotted galloping towards Prestbury on route to his destination. Cromwell's men heard him coming, raised the alarm, and moved in to attack.  The messenger saw what was happening ahead and spurred his horse into a faster gallop. Clods of earth flew from the horses hooves; the messenger was travelling so fast it was impossible to capture him.  However, what he didn't see, until it was too late, was a fine wire stretched between two trees across his path.  With an agonising scream he hit the wire so hard that his head was completely severed from his body.  The head, spouting blood, bounced to the ground first, followed by the grisly remains of the twitching corpse, while the terrified riderless horse galloped on.


Prestbury High Street where all sorts of
strange things happen at night



From that day onwards, locals have often heard the disembodied clatter of hooves of a galloping horse along the road outside the pub. The eerie sound has been attributed to the soul of this headless horseman. 

Our group, continued along the streets, through the lanes and across the churchyard to hear other spine chilling stories including that of the Strangled Bride; the famous Black Abbot who haunts the churchyard; Peeping Thomasina; Old Moses; the disappearing jockey; the girl who plays the spinnet; Cromwell's bargain with the Devil and more...

After an hour or so we returned to the The Plough in need of another drink to settle our nerves.  We were served with a piping hot meal and, gathering around the tables, we listened to Cathy as she told us of her experiences with the invisible, mischievous and often troublesome pub poltergeist.
                                                                                                                                                                     To book an evening Ghost Walk around Prestbury and hear more about the village's incredible tales:-
Contact Anne via her website:   www.tourandexplore.com

The 2012 Cotswold Olimpicks and the World Shin Kicking Competition

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

My souvenir programme
for the 400th anniversary

This year, in Gloucestershire, we have been looking forward to the 400th anniversary of  Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpicks, a much advertised precursor to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The official opening of the Cotswold Olimpick Games begins at 7.30 in the evening by someone taking the part of Robert Dover, who started the games back in 1612. He rides into the arena on a white horse, supposedly wearing some of King James 1 old clothes, accompanied by Endymion Porter and the Skuttlebrook Wake Queen and her attendants.  The games begins with a speech from Robert Dover followed by the firing of a cannon to awake the spirit of the Games.
 

Robert Dover with white feather in
his black hat.

The Cotswold Olympicks include team competitions such as Obstacle Races and Tugs of War as well as individual races such as Running, Throwing the Hammer, Putting the Shot, Jumping and Spurning the Barre.  But the most famous competition of all is Shin Kicking!  In earlier days it was very brutal. The contestants hardened their shins by hammering them and, it wasn't unknown for boots to have iron tips on them!  Nowadays it's permissible to push straw up your trouser legs to protect your shins a bit.

One of the shin kicking contestants in the
picture is celebrity sportsman Ben Fogle.

 Here, on the left, you see one of the many heats taking place.  The competitors hold one another by the shoulders. The object is to kick each other as hard as possible in the shins until one looses his balance and is brought to the ground.
At 9.30pm, as its getting dark, the final shin kicking competition takes place to find the World Shin Kicker 2012.

Here is a Youtube video, uploaded by SoGlos last year in 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGXDwbzlJKw

The torchlit procession into Chipping Campden

After the presentation of the awards - the finale; which is the lighting of a beacon and a brilliant display of fireworks. The last event of the night, and not to be missed, is leaving the games in a torchlit procession. You join the thousands of spectators carrying a flaming torch and walk from the hill down into Chipping Campden.  A Corp of Drums and a Pipe Band lead the way.  Its a wonderful sight and great to be part of this historic annual Cotswold event.

A walk around the Cotswold Village of Coberley

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

This week I am going to suggest a walk along a section, a very small section of  The Gloucestershire Way

The full walk takes you from Tutshill, near Chepstow, through the Forest of Dean and down into the Severn Vale to Gloucester, then up Crickley Hill to the Air Balloon, and on into the Cotswolds taking a great sweep through Coberley to Stow-on-the-Wold before doubling back through Winchombe, finally finishing in Tewkesbury, a distance of 100 scenic miles. The section I’m going to talk about is about the tiny but very historic village of Coberley which lies near Severn Springs, above Cheltenham.

Interestingly, two years ago the tiny village of Coberley featured on national television because the Channel 4 Time Team arrived for a 3 day archaeological dig in a nearby field and uncovered two magnificent roman mosaic floors. Further finds gave them sufficient evidence to assume that they had uncovered the ruins of a high status late 2nd century villa and large country estate. The then owners had chosen a sheltered site near Ermine Street a major Roman road linking the important fortress towns of Cirencester and Gloucester.



Coberley village Church

Twelve hundred years later a large medieval stately home at Coberley became the childhood home of Sir Richard Whittington, thought to be the Dick Whittington of Christmas pantomimes, but I race ahead. The big house has long since gone, so a visit to the village church has Dick’s picture on the wall and the south chapel reveals some interesting stories about the Lords of the Manor and their families.



After the Norman invasion in the 11th century records show that the powerful Berkeley family owned vast areas of land including land at Coberley.  In about 1270 Sir Giles Berkley II travelled to the Holy Land with Prince Edward, and his large army to fight in the crusades. On their return home Sir Giles now a knight, member of parliament and important public figure settled into Coberley Hall and entertained his Prince who had become King Edward I.

When Sir Giles favourite war horse died, he had it buried in the churchyard, the horses headstone has its name, LOMBARD inscribed across it. You can see the headstone as you make your way to the church door. When Sir Giles died his body was buried in Little Malvern Priory church, however his heart was brought to Coberley for burial and there is a monument beside the altar, on the south wall of the sanctuary with a carved image of a knight holding a heart.



Sir Giles was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas who fought at the battle of Crecy with King Edward III. He died about 1350 and his tomb and stone effigy are in the south chapel. His widowed second wife Joan married Sir William Whittington of Pauntley. This was a very rash thing to do as they hadn’t sought permission from King Edward, to marry; so Sir William fell out of favour with the king as well as the Berkeley family, and was forced to live as an outlaw, he died a few years after Richard was born. Joan returned to Coberley where Richard was brought up. Joan was probably buried in the Berkeley family tomb as her stone effigy lies next Sir Thomas’s on top of the tomb.

The Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide  - Anne Bartlett

The Rollright Stones, also known
as The Kings Men

Alongside a busy main road between Moreton-in-Marsh and Chipping Norton there's an ancient 100 foot stone circle known as the Rollright Stones.  They are somewhat hidden behind a hedge in a field, so you have to get out of your car and enter the field to be able to see them, and they are well worth a look. 

Archaeologists reckon that the stones date back to the Bronze Age  (somewhere between 5,500 and 3,500 years ago) and are part of an ancient religious site.

Although they are not as awesome as the Avebury circles and Stonehenge, its nevertheless a privilege to be able to view something as old and as meaningful to our ancestors as a religious site dating back approximately 2,000 years BC.

In a field on the opposite side of the road is a monolith or marker stone, now known as the King Stone, which would have been seen from the stone circle before the hedges were planted.  Also visible across the field from the stone circle, but some way away, is a group of 5 large stones leaning together labelled the Whispering Knights, these stones were probably part of a neolithic burial chamber used by the first farming communities to bury their dead.  I'm really impressed by the antiquity of the Rollright stones however prehistoric stones like these have always been linked  to witchcraft. 

The King Stone

As such, a variety of legends have developed over the years, one of which tells of a King who wanted to rule the whole of England.  When he arrived at this spot with his army he met a witch.  The witch seeing that he was an ambitious ruler thought that she would trick him.  She told him to take seven long strides and, 'If Long Compton though cans't see, King of England though shalt be.'

The Whispering Knights

The King, thinking that the witch was a silly old woman and that the challenge was very easy, strode out saying:  "Stick, stock, stone, as King of England I shall be known."  But when he took the seventh stride he still couldn't see Long Compton.  The witch cackled, "As Long Compton though canst not see, King of England though shalt not be.  Rise up stick, and stand still stone, for King of England though shalt be none.  Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be, and myself an Elden Tree".

A little further on and this is the view
of Long Compton today

Instantly he and his men were turned to stone.  The Whispering Knights who were some way off plotting to overthrow the king when he became ruler of all England, were also turned to stone.

There are a number of other stories but this is the best known one to explain the mystery of the stones being placed here.

For guided coach tours around the Cotswolds
Contact:  anne@tourandexplore
or
See:  http://www.tourandexplore.com/

A Group Visit to Broadway and the Arts Festival

By Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

A picture of a group from Hampshire that I was guiding around the Cotswolds yesterday, getting back on the coach after an enjoyable visit to the village of Broadway.

We had stopped for some sightseeing, some refreshments and a look around the village Arts Festival. Some people enjoyed the art exhibitions and others were wowed by the flower displays in the church.

Broadway Arts Festival is on all next week until Sunday 20th June 2010 to celebrate the work of John Singer Sergent RA (1856 - 1925) and the Broadway Colony.

For guided group coach tours of The Romantic Road around the Cotswolds to include Broadway email: anne@tourandexplore.com