As a local, and regular visitor, to the great man's country home at Stratfield Saye, and a long-time fan of the collection at his London residence Apsley House, I had just one significant English property to visit to complete the story of Arthur Wellesley's remarkable life in England. Walmer Castle was the home he was awarded with the honorary title of lord warden of the Cinque Ports, and the place where he died. With one day available for sightseeing in Canterbury, and having already visited the cathedral, this had to be my destination.
Walmer certainly delivers the goods for any fan of Wellington, offering up the room in which he died just as it was on that day. When you tour Stratfield Saye, the guides show you the original watercolour of the place captured at the time of his death and, indeed, it hasn't changed. It's simple and practical, with his camp bed, desk and armchair. Walmer was said to be his personal favourite amongst his residences, and you can see how the intimate scale and homely decor matched his dislike of excess. Apsley is a public stage set for great acts of government. Stratfield Saye is made for entertaining and dynasty building. Walmer is an old man's comfortable bolthole. You can also linger in an interesting two-room museum with gems like the original Wellington boots and the death mask of a touchingly fragile 83-year-old.
But there's much more here to see.
The military-minded will thrill to one of the best preserved of Henry VIII's coastal defences, still clearly showing the genius of its plan. Fans of architecture and design will be delighted to see how a comfortable, lovely country house has been carved out of a curiously-shaped Tudor fortress. History buffs will find much more than Wellington; a range of famous people lived here and an audio tour exposes you to the momentous things that happened within the walls. Gardeners will be impressed with the outdoors, which even on a grim day in early March were a delight.
Defence
When it was built, Walmer was a sophisticated piece of military high tech. Artillery was changing rapidly, and as a consequence so was defensive architecture. Cannon balls destroy corners, but are more likely to bounce off curves. Thus the castle is designed in the shape of a quatrefoil (a four-petalled flower). There's an outer set of quatrefoil walls, then a moat, then an inner set, with a round keep at the very centre. While the floral form looks very pretty from the air, the reality was a place bristling with guns at many levels that could shoot in many directions, from walls that were custom-built to repel enemy fire. The castle never fired a shot in anger at the enemy it was built to intimidate, France. But its location on the coast, so close that the old enemy is visible on a clear day, sent a very powerful message. Though the moat is now a garden and the keep a house, there are still plenty of cannon in place and it's obvious to see how the defensive structure originally worked. There's an excellent audio-visual guide that comes with the price of admission that explains everything, and shows drawings of the place ready for action in Tudor times.The House
Once military technology moved on enough to make its concentric rings of cannon old fashioned, Walmer became a house that went with the honourary title of lord warden of the Cinque Ports. A succession of important, and often wealthy, public figures held the post, from Pitt the Younger to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, often putting their own money and ideas into improving the place. It is a cosy, quirky house, with some lovely interiors and decorative objects that reflect past owners. It's fascinating to see how architects carved a home out of this unusual defensive shape, complete with picture windows set into cannon embrasures and lots of rooms with curved walls. The most striking feature is the long hallway you encounter after ascending the stairs from the ground floor. Running the length of the house, all the oddly-shaped rooms radiate off it and a glass door at its end leads onto a cannon-studded terrace overlooking the beach and the channel. At the mid point, there's a lovely little octagonal lobby with light flooding in from windows set in a lantern above. A big fireplace and some of striking portraits lie below.The decor is classic English country house: mostly a mix of Georgian and Victorian art and furniture with tasteful renovations and additions made in a consistent style in the 20th century. In addition to Wellington's bedroom and three museum rooms, you see a couple of comfortable reception rooms on the ground floor, while off that upstairs hall you find Pitt's bedroom and office, a dining room and a pleasant sitting room. There must have been more bedrooms, and plenty of staff accommodation, but this is definitely not a grand place. That adds to its charm.
Knowing a good deal about Wellington before I got there, I spent more time exploring the rooms devoted to Pitt the Younger. The wunderkind who became prime minister at 24, he'd worked himself to death by 47. No wonder, given that he had to spend most of his career juggling the twin problems of the Napoleonic Wars and a spendthrift Prince Regent. He also had a boisterous political opposition and was the butt of many a joke in the raucous dawn of the political cartoonist. (There's a great selection of the best cartoons here.) His bedroom and office suite give great insight into the man, as does a museum room.
The audio guide brings other eras of history to life, from the original Tudor soldier occupants to the early 20th century dinner parties at which WWI battle strategies were conceived. The daughter of the lord warden of the time wrote with gushing enthusiasm about how Winston Churchill planned Gallipoli at the dining table with "all the romance of a crusade." It's a chilling story, and a great example of how a good tour can bring a place to life.
Outdoors
Though you hear a bit about the Queen Mother indoors (and see a lovely portrait of her), it's in the gardens where she made her biggest mark. At this time of year, the woodland walk was most striking, with clumps of hellebores, late-blooming snowdrops and early blooming daffodils and miniature irises all adding colour. The space specifically known as the Queen Mother's Garden has interest all year round, with topiary castle walls and a long reflecting pool ... though it's clear the flower beds add colour in the summer. The moat was filled with daffodils, and lawns sprouted with crocus. It's the long, oddly-shaped yew hedges that made the most dramatic impression on me, however, looking oddly malevolent on a stormy, grey day. I have no doubt that the deep borders in front of them form a corridor of herbaceous glory in high summer.The castle sits on a remarkably undeveloped strip of coastline. It looks like you could walk for miles between shingle beach, farmland and secluded homes. No doubt it's jammed with noisy holiday makers in warmer months, but right now it's moody and secluded ... something you don't associate with being in the London commuter belt.
Walmer is an English Heritage property, £10.10 per adult if you're not a member. There's also a tea room in the base of the keep, and a better-than-average gift shop. It would be a steep price if you were only interested in one of these aspects of Walmer. But if you combine Wellington, the military architecture, the history, house and garden ... all enlivened by an excellent audio guide ... it's well worth the price.
