Lydiard House is located in Lydiard Park, Swindon. The Palladian style house with Georgian features and land was owned by the Vicount Bolingbroke for several centuries until the costs of upkeep became too high. It is now owned by Swindon Borough Council who renovated it and opened it as a public museum with the surrounding park open as a public park.
Lydiard House
Library
Dining Room
Table setting arrangement
Dummy cut out, these were commonly included in living spaces to give the illusion of there being people in the house at all times, to deter burglers and give a full house appearance
Sideboard in the dining room with display bowls
Drawing Room portraits and photographs
Tea was drunk in the Drawing room, tea cups and tea pot
Afternoon tea in the drawing room was a practice that was popularised in the early 19th century by the Duchess of Bedford who, in need of an afternoon 'pick me up' , began to take a pot of tea and a light snack in her private rooms at Woburn Abbey. She began to invite guests to join her and the practice spread amongst her aristocratic friends and it soon became a fashionable social occasion.
Bed chamber
close up of the bed covered with embroidered designs
secret doorway
Chandelier
Stained glass window
The Socchi Desk
The Socchi desk is one of five desks and the only one in the UK. It is a mechanical table that can close into a circle shape. It was made by Italian cabinet market Giovanni Socchi in 1830.
Lady Beauclerk, formerly Viscountess Bolingbroke (née Spencer) 1734-1808 was the daughter of the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, she married Viscount Bolingbroke and had two sons and a daughter.
She got divorced and remarried and was a talented artist.
Portrait of Diana
The Walled Garden was remodelled in the 1740s as a formal enclosed garden
Walled garden
Walled garden view
Hyacinths and tulips
Walled garden view
The garden changes with the seasons
Apples grown in the garden are used to make cider and sold in the gift shop & cafe.
Outside in the grounds away from the front of the house can be found the ice house.
Ice house used to refridgerate food for the house
There is a lot to explore in the house and the park
Find out more about Lydiard house, gardens grounds and the church on the grounds here
This stunning collection with more than 100 objects owned by Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, have been loaned to the V&A for the show, which explores 400 years of Indian jewellery. It is being staged as part of the V&A India Festival and is sponsored by Wartski. Highlights include Mughul Jades, jewelled finial from the throne of Tipu Sultan and modern pieces which serve to illustrate how designs and tastes changed over time. It showcases also how Indian style had an influence on avante garde European jewellery designs made by leading houses like Cartier and how modern pieces by JAR and Bhagat are inspired by a fusion of Mughal motifs and Art deco designs with an Indian twist.
The collection also includes 3 major loans from the Royal Collection, lent by Her Majesty The Queen which are the Nabha Spinel, a jewelled bird (Huma bird) from the canopy of Tipu Sultan's Throne and the 'Timur Ruby'.
Spinel is a gemstone that comes in different colours with the purest form being colourless. The most desirable colours are the deep blood reds. They are also blue, orange pink and purple and it is hard and has clarity which makes it great for jewellery.
The Huma bird from Tipu Sultan's throne canopy
The defeat and death of Tipu, Sultan of Mysore in 1799 led to the Sultan’s magnificent treasury and library being ransacked by the British forces, and the gold coverings of his throne were cut up into small pieces for distribution as prize. The throne was surrounded by a railing with a small jewelled tiger head above each support, and surmounted by a canopy raised on a post at the back. In the front was a life-size tiger head (later presented to William IV, now at Windsor Castle). Above the canopy hovered the huma or bird of paradise. It was ‘supposed to fly constantly in the Air, and never to touch the ground. It is looked upon as a Bird of happy Omen, and that every Head it overshadows will in time wear a Crown’. After the breaking up of the throne the Huma bird was eventually acquired and presented to George III and thus now is part of the Royal collection.
Only one sketch by an artist who actually saw the throne exists today. This is titled the ‘Front view of the throne of the late Tippo Sultun’, and drawn by Thomas Marriot, ADC to the Commander-in-Chief, Madras dated 6 August 1799. Thomas Marriott preceded provided one of the few eyewitness accounts and pictorial representations of Tipu’s throne before it was broken up on the orders of the Prize Committee. In the drawing you can see where the bird would have sat at the top of the canopy.
Close up of the beautiful gemstone detail of the Huma bird
The Timur ruby came directly to Queen Victoria from India in 1850. The ruby which is actual spinel rather than ruby, weighs 352.5 carats and with the smaller spinels were set by Garrads into an orient inspired necklace in 1853. The stone has historical links to the Mughal Emperors as proven with the inscriptions on it between 1612 and 1771. The connection with the great Asian conqueror Timur arose from a misreading of the inscriptions, but it's possible that Timur's inscription was erased.
Jewels from the Al Thani private collection
The Crescent moon emerald was gifted to Anita Delgado, Princess of Kapurthala by her husband
Crescent Emerald with Diamonds, c 1910 Paris
the Maharajah of Kapurthala. She had seen it as part of a decoration on an elephant and she fell in love with it and it became her favourite jewel.
Here is photo of her wearing the Crescent Emerald
The peacock aigrette
Peacock corsage or hair ornament (aigrette) Gold Diamond and Enamel, Meller, Paris 1910
This is another of the jewels gifted to his young bride by the Maharajah at their civil wedding ceremony.
Ruby choker
Ruby choker which the Maharajah of Patiala commissioned Cartier to design in 1931
Turban decorations
Turban decoration with hanging spinels
Pearl and spinel earrings
Pearl, spinel & diamond earrings by JAR, Paris 2010
