Basildon Park
Lower Basildon, Reading RG89NR
+44 1491672382 • nationaltrust.org.uk
Berkshire has always been a wealthy county, where private parks and grand historic houses occupy large swathes of land. Some have been converted into very impressive five-star hotels, which serve wonderful afternoon teas in dedicated tea lounges and conservatories. Others, like Basildon Park, are now owned by the National Trust, guardian of our historic places and green spaces, and are open to the public. This enormous, neoclassical, stately home was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes, a member of the British East India Company who made his fortune in India. The house was never fully completed, and various owners left it sitting empty for long periods of time. One 20th-century proprietor even offered it for sale to any American with an interest in owning an English stately home. His intention was to pull the house down and put it back together again in the US! That plan fell through, but instead of looking after the house, he abandoned it, having first stripped it of valuable fixtures and fittings. It was sold twice more before it was eventually purchased in 1952 by the 2nd Lord Iliffe and his wife. Their wealth came from the family’s controlling interests in various British newspapers, and Lord and Lady Iliffe both dedicated large quantities of money and time to restoring the house to its earlier grand style. In 1978, having completed the restoration, they presented Basildon Park to the National Trust with a large endowment to pay for its upkeep, and today, the Grade 1 listed building welcomes thousands of visitors every year.
The house served as the location for the filming of the 2005 movie version of Pride & Prejudice, the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, and the Crawley family’s London mansion, Grantham House, in Downton Abbey. Although it would be wonderful to actually take tea in the Green Drawing Room or the even grander Octagon Drawing Room with its Italianate ceiling, Regency chandelier and Gothic armchairs, cups of tea, cakes, cookies, and scones with jam and clotted cream are served today in the frescoed tearoom on the ground floor of the mansion.
This room was once the Servants’ Hall, and Michael Dillon, Lady Illiffe’s nephew, painted the walls with lifelike images of the ruined city of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, with a derelict temple, wild jungle plants, and even a leopard or two. It makes an unusual and very attractive setting for a cream tea!
