Syon House (I described it as 'stupendous' in their visitors' book) is the London home of the Duke of Northumberland. Originally a medieval abbey- construction commenced in 1426 and the first buildings were ready for occupation in 1431- it was the Duke of Somerset, then Lord Protector to the young Edward VI (r.1547-1553) who is credited with starting the construction, in the Renaissance style, of the present house when he took possession in 1547.
Syon House came to the Percy family, its present owners, in 1594. The Percys have a chequered history- one distant cousin, Thomas Percy, was one of the principal Gunpowder Plotters and was shot dead making his escape in the midlands.
The fields and parkland cover some 50 hectares, and it's hard to believe that you're only ten miles from central London.
Whilst I loved the couple of hours I spent at Syon, I won't be hurrying back to do it as it's two trains, twenty-four stations and a bus ride away from my home.
Why didn't I do this when I lived in west London, you ask? Well, I did when I lived in Fulham. As I remember it, it was a palaver to get to from there. I walked over Putney Bridge and right down the High Street to the station, then took the train to Kew Bridge. Why I alighted there I don't know, as there are nearer stations to the park. Maybe I just wanted a scenic walk down by the Thames? Time has erased that part of the memory! What I do remember is walking to the nearer Syon Lane station afterwards, only to find that trains were running once an hour and I had a hell of a long wait as it was a Sunday. I remember taking a bus to Turnham Green station instead, only to find that station closed. To cut a long story short, I ended up walking to Hammersmith hoping to pick up a bus from there, but got there and thought 'sod it!' and continued walking to New King's Road, where I was living.
My ex-boyfriend was worried about me as I'd just disappeared and was uncontactable, as I didn't get my first mobile phone until the end of that year. Whilst no Luddite, I'm not a lover of mobile phones.
Anyway, he'd been to either a car boot sale or a charity shop and presented me with this lovely china dolphin, which he named Dolly. She still sits on my bathroom windowsill.
Enough of that! Here's my account of our day. It was 2005 when I visited before so I didn't remember every room we went in, or every detail about the house, including this sweeping entrance view...
At the end of the drive sit two 'Pepperpot' lodges...
Ye olde lodge and ye not-so-olde aeroplane! We were on the flight path to nearby Heathrow Airport and, at times, the planes were so close it seemed that they were going to land on my head. More about that later...
Here is the marvellous Great Hall, which I have seen in more than one film as well as several history programmes...
The floor is stunning (the SuperDean is not too bad either!)...
The geometric ceiling less so...but still very nice!
Through the back door is this cuter-than-cute garden...
...with a lovely fountain...
Our next stop was the Ante Room...
Ante Room fireplace...
It's worth looking upwards in this building as so much care has been taken with the decoration of the ceilings...
We got to visit the Undercroft...
...and the Confectionery...
The icebox...
The Undercroft was showing an exhibition of archaeological finds from the site. The Time Team (a Channel 4 history programme) visited Syon in 2004.
The obese body of Henry VIII was brought here when he died, in 1547. Apparently, blood leaked from his coffin and was licked by hounds... Lovely!!!!
Here is the beautiful Dining Room (I didn't see any table, though...!)
Closer to the ceiling (the shot, not me...I certainly didn't climb up there...)
Next, we enter the Red Drawing Room. Ceilings are featuring a lot in this post, so we'll start with that...
The lighting was at a very low level in here...
The Duke's Study. This wasn't featured in my 2005 guidebook, so I assume it's only been opened to the public in the intervening years.
The length and mid-length of the Long Gallery...
It was here, in 1553, that Lady Jane Grey was told she was now queen of England. She reigned for only nine days.
The ceiling (of course!)
There are bookcase doors at both ends...
I wasn't allowed to use a flash anywhere in the building, so this little room- known as a Turret Room- looks very gloomy in this photo...
These doors were closed but, apparently, they lead out onto the garden...
Ceiling...
This candelabra was in the Long Gallery, just outside this Turret Room...
There is a Turret Room at each end of the Long Gallery, and this one let in the light...
Ceiling...
This birdcage is actually a clock...
On to the Print Room. It contains portraits, although it once contained prints and retains its original name...
Ceiling...
The Duchess' Sitting Room in a very low light...
The Green Drawing Room is still regularly used by the family...
...here's the ceiling and chandelier...
The Private Dining room is also still in use today. It's not the kind of table where you'd sit and snack on a Pot Noodle with a side order of a packet of crisps! Or maybe the family do? I don't suppose they're about to let slip such information!
The Oak Passage was originally intended to provide a service corridor, but today contains many interesting works, including royal and family portraits...
Servants' stairs...
The Principal Staircase, from bottom to top...
I liked this selection of plates around the corner, so I took a piccie of 'em...
The North Front, or Nursery Passage. I can remember this! Aside for the Great Hall and its adjoining garden, one of the bedrooms and the outside conservatory and lake, its the only thing that's stayed in my mind. The last time I visited the windows weren't shuttered, as they are now, so I could see over to Kew Gardens.
This is labelled the Blue Bedroom in my guidebook, but I'm sure it had 'The Duke's Bedroom' written on the door...
The Pink Bedroom/ Duchess' Bedroom. This featured in the film Gosford Park, shot here in 2001. The present duke and his siblings used this room as their nursery dayroom. Maybe it was decorated differently then?
The bathroom...
Down the East Front and this is where Queen (then Princess) Victoria slept when she visited Syon...
The Duchess of Kent, Victoria's possessive mother, slept across the corridor...
This middle room separated the two bedrooms, allowing Victoria the privacy she wasn't allowed at her Kensington Palace home, where her mother insisted on sleeping in the same bed as her!
Here is a view down into the lovely, uniform fountain garden...
The lion on top of the east front of the house...
Before making my way downstairs, I took these photos of fans, just because I liked them.
Here is a very nicely framed, picturesque view out of the house...
The magnificent, imposing Great Conservatory...
To the left...
To the right...
Closer...
Closer still...
The pond...
Waterlilies...
The central dome from inside...
We wandered off down the right arm...
The SuperDean...
We found these interesting desert plants. Apparently, the Great Conservatory is unheated throughout the year.
Down the left arm...
The vine...
And now we come to my favourite part of the whole park.
THIS was such an unexpected delight that it pushed the Great Hall into second place. I couldn't remember it from my previous trip, so to stumble upon this charming little pond was a surprise and a real treat.
We walked out of the back door and over to the lake, which I remembered from 2005.
The bridge and another keen photographer...
Views down the length of the lake...
The aeroplanes on the flight path to Heathrow certainly created an unholy racket which was only slightly shielded by being inside the glasshouse. It was easy for me to read the planes' tails and, in some cases, their underbellies. The landing gear would be down and, at times I'm convinced I saw the pilot wink at me!
On this photo it looks small, but it certainly doesn't feel like it when you're standing right beneath it.
Of, course, there have to be some vain old tart photos...
This was a fantastic day out, but I won't be hurrying back to visit Syon Park as the sheer distance puts me off.
I'm going to go off-subject and conclude this blog with a little remembrance.
Whilst at the park we observed the minute's silence in tribute to those who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire, one year ago to the day (June 14th).
We've all seen the images and I have seen that tragic building with my naked eye. So, I'm going to leave you with a photo that I think is really moving, because it was taken from the tower by one of the victims about a week before the disaster that took her life.
Such a beautiful rainbow. Rest in peace.
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