Back in March, I was meant to head to Heidelberg in Germany for a weekend but work had been literally awful and I just needed to collapse. With my husband in Japan, I decided there was no better place to go to rest than back home to my parents. After a week at the laptop, I wanted to get a nice long walk in on Saturday and so off we headed 30 minutes up the road to Calke Abbey for a stroll.
Mum and I had planned the route, so obviously didn’t know where to go or what direction – from Calke Abbey car park, I eventually led us off on a path (which turned out to be the completely wrong one) entering some lovely woodland and followed along a stream to the nearby reservoir. The reservoir is man made, covering 209 acres with a capacity of 1400 million gallons, benefiting around 800,000 people in Leicestershire. It’s one of the most modern and efficient reservoirs in Europe – you learn something new every day.
We walked round the reservoir, and then through Calke Village and back on to the Abbey grounds. Just a week before the weather here in England had turned really mild and the daffodils started blooming, but it lulled us in to thinking Spring was here before hitting us with Winter Part 2. As we walked back on to the Estate, I could barely feel my hands and my eyes were watering at the cold. We strolled past the beautiful church and then Calke Abbey itself came in to view. I decided I was far too cold to continue on our walk and instead we decided to warm up in the house.
As with anything with an Abbey in the name, the site was of course once an Abbey until Henry VIII came along. However the current building was built well after that between 1701 and 1704, as a Baroque mansion. The house was owned by the Harpur Family for nearly 300 years, but passed to the National Trust in 1985.
The house is really unique as it has been preserved in the state in which it was handed to the National Trust. It really is as if time stood still, and illustrative of how many of these grand houses gradually fell in to a state of disrepair, unsustainable post two World Wars and the introduction of inheritance tax. In fact, the Harpur who passed it to the National Trust did so in lieu of an £8m inheritance tax bill.
What’s also interesting is that slowly over time bits of the house had already been closed off by the Harpurs to try to make running the estate more affordable. What it means is you now have a mish-mash of rooms – some well kept and found in an impressive state, and others completely decrepit after years of abandonment. There are signs of the once splendid grandeur of the early generations, with servants bells (labelled Lady Harpur’s bedroom and so forth), grand fireplaces and a library of incredible books, but there are also many mouldy, torn and worn rooms. I quite liked it because it had character.
An un-stately home indeed.
After warming up, and a spot of lunch in the Café, it was back to the walking route I’d already messed up. With Dad at the helm, we walked up north to the nearby lime kilns. These kilns lie on the Calke Estate, and were once used to create mortar to enable the bonding of bricks to build buildings by burning the limestone to make quicklime.
We then looped back down to the Estate, through more pretty woodland and open fields before collapsing in to the car. In total we walked about 8km in a very inefficient loop, but it was still beautiful and a lovely day out. The perfect way to clear my head after a long week at work, and to re-set myself before starting all over again on Monday.
Thanks so much for reading – what did you think of Calke Abbey? I loved this affectionately labelled un-stately home, and thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone who might be in the area. Stay safe and happy travelling!
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