A Visit To Cleopatra's Needle Case
Created | Updated Mar 3, 2013
Bob Stafford is handy with a camera.
A Visit to Cleopatra's Needle Case
Kingston Lacy House, Dorset
Hello.
I tend to get about and visit many interesting places in the English countryside and it was suggested that it might be good to share some of my discoveries with you. So I thought I would introduce you to one of my favourite parts of Dorset.
If you are in the area with a day to spare go to Kingston Lacey - it is a wonderful property owned by the National Trust. The estate is green and pleasant with some majestic old trees. Go in the spring and see the famous snowdrops in the woodlands.
The Grand Drive to the house is now the B3082 Blandford Road. It is lined by mature trees for almost 2 miles, and you will notice wide grass margins on either side between the trees and the fields. These were commonly known as gallops and were provided for the gentry to exercise their horses and keep the drive free for carriages. There is a legend that when the trees were planted a gold sovereign was placed by their roots. Time will tell if that story is right. And keep an eye out if you drive down there for Badbury Rings, an iron age hill fort to the north of the road. Vaspasian camped nearby (just west of Wimborne) whilst he was politely inviting the locals to become Roman subjects.
The house was originally owned by the Bankes family, who were the Lords Lacys, Earls of Lincoln, who also had their family seat at Corfe Castle. They moved out after hosting a fairly wild party at the end of the civil war, when their guests wrecked the Castle and moved into the new house they had designed by Sir Roger Pratt, and built between 1663 and 1665 at Kingston Lacey.
The house was built to resemble an Italian palace and today it houses a fantastic art collection including Egyptian artefacts and works by Brueghel, Rubens, Titian and Van Dyck. For many people the gardens are the best part of a visit. There is an excellent Japanese Garden. There are woodland walks with the opportunity to see a variety of butterflies in season.
There is an original obelisk found by William Bankes in 1815 on his trip to the Nile. It bears the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra in Greek and hieroglyphics. The obelisk is now set on the lawns at the front of the house. Famous guests included Pitt the younger, the Duke of Wellington and Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Ralph Bankes, the last owner, passed the house at Kingston Lacey and Corfe castle into the care of the National Trust in 1981, the largest gift to date. The house and gardens are well worth a visit: make a day of it take a packed lunch, or use the restaurant set up in the stables. The gift shop is of the usual high standard .You will find it hard to forget, I did. It is well worth taking a camera.
More photographs and visitor information with useful links can be found here and if you can, have a look at the area on Google Maps to get a feel of the local geography.
The House is open from first weekend in March to first weekend in November 11:00 - 17:00, and is NOT OPEN Mondays and Tuesdays. Gardens are open 10:30 - 18:00 and only closed over the Christmas period. However please check before your visit.
Happy wanderings.
Links and Notes
To learn more about Corfe Castle.
To learn more about Wimborne Minster.
Mobility toilet in Laundry courtyard. Easy access to Eye Bridge, Pamphill, Badbury, Holt Heath and forest.
More photographs and visitor information with useful links can be found here.
