0:00:03 > 0:00:04Our great country houses.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08The most familiar and yet intriguing sights Britain has to offer.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Standing like sentinels in the landscape.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Hundreds of thousands of us visit them every year,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20but not all are open to the public.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24I've been granted the privileged opportunity to pass through
0:00:24 > 0:00:28the portals of six of our greatest country houses,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30normally hidden from public view.
0:00:32 > 0:00:38They've seen five centuries of British history, up close and personal.
0:00:38 > 0:00:46The families who built these houses played their part in great affairs of state.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53Central to their dreams, the great house, the ultimate status symbol,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57but all too often also, the ultimate money-drainer.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Few of these families went the distance,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03but their houses did, with their secrets intact.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09This is their story, but it's also our story,
0:01:09 > 0:01:14for these houses offer a guided tour of our nation's hidden history.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46What triumphs and disasters this house can bear witness to.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51Debts, jewels, family estrangements, fortunes lost,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54sometimes at the turn of a card, and fortunes won.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03It's a wonderful design. A building with tremendous power and presence -
0:02:03 > 0:02:05an architectural masterpiece.
0:02:07 > 0:02:13But it's not only a house of beauty. It's also a house of secrets.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Precisely who designed it and when
0:02:16 > 0:02:21has been one of the greatest mysteries of British architecture.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Easton Neston is also a house full of history.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29It's a testament in stone to more than three centuries
0:02:29 > 0:02:32of its owners' wealth, power and privilege.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37The ordinary man and woman would have seen the world of the Fermors
0:02:37 > 0:02:41as I would see Bill Gates, something so far away.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43It's a completely different universe.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50The Fermor family kept Easton Neston going thanks to two desperate measures -
0:02:50 > 0:02:51mortgage and marriage.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57This is the consumer society in the 18th century
0:02:57 > 0:03:00and so they increasingly get into debt.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05And so one of the ways, of course, to pay that off, their strategy, indeed is to marry.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13For ten generations, this family didn't dirty its hands with business,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16up until the 1970s, when it went into the motor trade.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Here was a turn-up for the books, if not for the family fortunes.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27After all, it's not every country house
0:03:27 > 0:03:29that gets to play host to a Formula 1 racing team.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The latest chapter in Easton Neston's history
0:03:39 > 0:03:42shows that it has lost none of its power to please.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48In 2005, it became the European headquarters of a global fashion brand.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Its new owner isn't an aristocrat,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59but a wealthy Los Angeles-based, Russian-born fashion designer
0:03:59 > 0:04:02with a liking for traditional English country pursuits.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10It was really love at first sight. It was the most beautiful house I have ever seen.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13I had to have it right there and then.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Easton Neston is one of the most beautiful examples of a short-lived
0:04:24 > 0:04:28but important architectural movement, English baroque.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32It only lasted from the 1660s to the 1730s.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38For me, it's one of the richest and most glorious styles of our native architecture.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Baroque is based on ancient classical models,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47but it's playful, wilful and inventive.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50It began in Italy.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Here in England, baroque was more reserved,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55less sinuous and feminine.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59A little bit more masculine in style, but still sumptuous.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The interior is every bit as imposing as the exterior
0:05:09 > 0:05:14and again, it's a masterpiece of the baroque style.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Originally, this wall wasn't here. There were just a pair of columns.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22And there was a reason for this.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30When the house was built, you would've stepped through the front door
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and immediately encountered Easton Neston's first splendour.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42This was one of the most famous and spatially surprising
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and exciting rooms in early-18th-century Britain.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50It's the hall and originally it was double-height,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52almost twice as high as it is now.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56This ceiling was inserted in the late 19th century.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03And here we can see what the hall looked like when first built.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08Can you imagine the extraordinary impact this double-height room would've had?
0:06:08 > 0:06:11It was one of the greatest glories of the English baroque.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19One thing that characterises baroque
0:06:19 > 0:06:23is that each new space you encounter is designed to take you by surprise.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31The staircase is the architectural high point,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35the focus of the interior - indeed, of the house.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43It's all to do, of course, with space, light, drama.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51This was one of the most admired staircases in the whole of Europe
0:06:51 > 0:06:52and with good reason.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58The staircase is not just visually beautiful,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02it's also something of an engineering marvel.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06There are these rebates on the underside of each tread
0:07:06 > 0:07:09that lock the treads together
0:07:09 > 0:07:14and they ensure that the weight of the staircase is transferred
0:07:14 > 0:07:19in a reliable and regular manner, from tread to tread, from top to bottom.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23The whole staircase does seem to deny common sense.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25It really does float!
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Also, I love the fact that most people using this staircase,
0:07:28 > 0:07:33bounding up and down it, have no idea what keeps it standing!
0:07:38 > 0:07:41And the great staircase has another trick up its sleeve.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45As you turn the corner and walk up the second flight of stairs,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47the experience is different again.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Looking back towards the mighty window,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55the quality of the space is very different.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00It becomes a world now of light and shade.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06And so to the next part of the tour
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and there's another cleverly-worked transition.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15From antique gloom to light.
0:08:15 > 0:08:21This gallery is, again, a glorious spatial surprise.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24It stretches the full depth of the house
0:08:24 > 0:08:29and at each end are huge windows.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34These windows offer sensational views out.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40One can see here that, in fact, this gallery sits astride an axis
0:08:40 > 0:08:45through the house, but also extended into the landscape,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49this direction and that direction, as far as the eye can see.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52So, although this gallery is, in a sense,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55the end of the architectural promenade through the house,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58it's also a connection to the larger world.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07And, of course, the human figures in this landscape
0:09:07 > 0:09:11would've been peering back in shock and awe.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15This family had arrived, but where had it started from?
0:09:27 > 0:09:29The story of Easton Neston starts here,
0:09:29 > 0:09:34as a large Tudor house, 150 yards south of the existing house,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37which means the mansion was roughly where I'm walking now.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And if you think that Easton Neston sounds like a village,
0:09:40 > 0:09:45well it was, but the village was removed in 1499.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48All that marks its existence is the medieval parish church.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59As for the parishioners themselves, well, it seems they were
0:09:59 > 0:10:04simply thrown off the estate. They were in the way.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10And here in the church are the tombs of the family which was to own
0:10:10 > 0:10:16the estate of Easton Neston from the 1530s until 2005.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The Fermor family had scrabbled its way up through the Tudor ranks
0:10:20 > 0:10:25to become important merchants, lawyers and politicians.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Under the Stuarts came formal recognition
0:10:32 > 0:10:33of their burgeoning status.
0:10:38 > 0:10:45This temple or banqueting house is dated 1641.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Now, it could mark the beginnings of a great ambition, because in 1641,
0:10:50 > 0:10:56the same date as it was built, William Fermor was made a baronet!
0:10:56 > 0:11:01As Sir William, he may have hankered after a brand-new house
0:11:01 > 0:11:03in keeping with his brand-new status.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Could this little garden building
0:11:08 > 0:11:12indeed be the beginning of a great building campaign to create
0:11:12 > 0:11:16a new classical country house in this style just about here?
0:11:19 > 0:11:22If this was the case, then the timing was somewhat unfortunate,
0:11:22 > 0:11:27because only a year later, the English Civil War started.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Building an imposing country house suddenly didn't seem
0:11:31 > 0:11:32such a pressing priority.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39But in 1660, with the restoration of Charles II,
0:11:39 > 0:11:44the king's loyal supporters could dust off their chequebooks and start to spend.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Here's the man who finally built the new house,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53the second Sir William Fermor.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57He was an MP, but he wasn't, like his ancestors, in trade.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01The Fermors had left the cutthroat world of the Tudors behind
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and reached sunnier pastures.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Fermor's wealth came not from business,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13but from a different source altogether - marriage.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Marrying money was a lot quicker
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and presumably easier than actually earning it.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25In 1671, Sir William Fermor's first wife proved this,
0:12:25 > 0:12:30cos she brought him a dowry, or wedding gift, of £7,000.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34She soon died, but ten years later he married a second time,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and that wife brought him a dowry of £9,000.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40That's inflation for you!
0:12:40 > 0:12:45And now, with the money flooding in, the time had come to spend it.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Fermor took a momentous decision.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01He resolved to build a grand new house to reflect
0:13:01 > 0:13:04the family's rise in fortunes.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09For this, an architect would come in handy and, luckily for Fermor,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13he was related to one by marriage, Sir Christopher Wren!
0:13:14 > 0:13:18There could hardly have been a more prestigious name to call on.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Wren was a wonder of the age, Britain's greatest living architect,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25responsible for designing St Paul's Cathedral
0:13:25 > 0:13:30and over 50 churches after London's Great Fire of 1666.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34He was one of Britain's first superstar architects.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46We know for certain that Wren was approached by Fermor,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49but how much involvement did he have in the design of Easton Neston?
0:13:49 > 0:13:53This seemingly simple question has turned into
0:13:53 > 0:13:57one of the longest-running controversies in British architectural history,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00but it's one we're hoping to solve!
0:14:08 > 0:14:12The first staging post on the Easton Neston trail is here at Oxford.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Wren's career as an architect began at the university.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27He was a fellow here at All Souls and a professor,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30not of architecture, but of astronomy!
0:14:30 > 0:14:33This sundial is his work.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Many of Wren's papers are still kept here at All Souls,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42including one that is of particular interest to us.
0:14:48 > 0:14:55Here at All Souls is a design that is said to be the first,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58or certainly a very early design for Easton Neston
0:14:58 > 0:14:59by Sir Christopher Wren.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03What's intriguing is that the existing house
0:15:03 > 0:15:08is nine windows wide... This is indeed nine windows wide.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11So, the scale is similar and broad composition similar...
0:15:11 > 0:15:14main block with wings... but much, much more modest!
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Much more modest than the existing building.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22This seems very clearly to be a design for Easton Neston,
0:15:22 > 0:15:27but how come the existing house was not built to Wren's design?
0:15:32 > 0:15:33At a certain point,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and frustratingly, we don't know exactly when it was,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Wren handed over the design of Easton Neston
0:15:38 > 0:15:41to his talented protege, Nicholas Hawksmoor.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Hawksmoor was born around 1662,
0:15:46 > 0:15:51it's thought to a poor farming family in Nottinghamshire.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53He came to work for Wren aged 18
0:15:53 > 0:15:58and became his clerk, pupil and eventually collaborator.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03And what a career Hawksmoor had.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Up to his death in 1736,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10he's one of the greatest exponents of the English baroque style.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15He also built in a different manner at All Souls.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19But his most famous work are the six astonishing churches
0:16:19 > 0:16:26he designed in London after 1712, such as Christ Church, Spitalfields.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32These are the mature masterpieces of the English baroque,
0:16:32 > 0:16:38the culmination of a journey into the sublime that began for Hawksmoor at Easton Neston.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45But how did the young Hawksmoor come to be involved
0:16:45 > 0:16:47in Easton Neston at all?
0:16:47 > 0:16:51And how do we get from this rather modest design...
0:16:51 > 0:16:53to this?
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Clues as to how the design of Easton Neston changed so radically
0:17:02 > 0:17:06are to be found here, the north wing.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Originally, there was a matching wing opposite
0:17:11 > 0:17:16that contained the stables. That was demolished just over 200 years ago,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19leaving only its twin still standing.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It's thought to date from the 1680s and, by tradition, has been called
0:17:23 > 0:17:28"the Wren wing" because it's vaguely in the style of Wren.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Few people now believe that it's by Wren -
0:17:31 > 0:17:36it is not like his designs that survive in All Souls College
0:17:36 > 0:17:40and Hawksmoor called the wing "good for nothing"!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Something he would not have said if it had been by Wren,
0:17:43 > 0:17:44his revered master.
0:17:44 > 0:17:51So, who did design it? Well, we have absolutely no idea.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58What we do know is when the wing was built.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01That's because Robert Howard, a dendrochronologist,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05has used a tree-ring dating technique to show that the wing was roofed
0:18:05 > 0:18:08between 1683 and 1686.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Next, he's going to be dating the roof of the main house.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21The wing was all but destroyed by fire in 2002.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27It's been restored by the architect Ptolemy Dean,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30who also commissioned the tree-ring dating.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35After stripping away decades of plywood, paint and plaster,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Ptolemy has uncovered some intriguing secrets
0:18:37 > 0:18:40that the building's been keeping to itself.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Looking at the difference between two sets of roof timbers,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51it seems that, after the wing was built, six feet were chopped off one end of it!
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Then look what happens here.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59The end A-bay here is cut short, cut off, and you...
0:18:59 > 0:19:03and you can imagine it's because they look out there and they say,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07"Goodness me, we've got to have enough room for that house."
0:19:07 > 0:19:13Here's the proof! The windows in the roof aren't arranged symmetrically.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16If you look behind you at that elevation there,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18you'll see one, two, three windows.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- Yeah.- Do you see it's moved in? - I do. I do.- Do you see that?- I do.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26- More space on the right than left. - Exactly.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30So, right from the start, there were concerns that not enough room
0:19:30 > 0:19:32had been left for the main house.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And when he came to restore the basement,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Ptolemy found that it too had been altered
0:19:40 > 0:19:44at some point after it had first been built.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- Here is one of those basement piers. - Yeah.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Just, you know, standard stuff here. It all carries on vaulting here.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55And then look, where are we on the plan? We are under the great...
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- Staircase!- ..staircase. And look at this.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Suddenly, we've got more of this massive Hawksmoor masonry,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04this banding, abutting up to the existing...
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- Yes.- ..stone piers, and... - Later, later, later. Yeah.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Later, later, later, and this incredible depth.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And it's not just here. It's there, it's there and here.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17It's on the other side. And we deliberately left this area unpainted
0:20:17 > 0:20:19so that you can see, clearly,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Hawksmoor coming into this existing basement, saying,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26"This, this staircase is not going to be supported
0:20:26 > 0:20:29"on the existing, flimsy stone vaulting.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34"We need some proper stonemasonry here to make the grand staircase
0:20:34 > 0:20:39"for this grand house I'm making above."
0:20:39 > 0:20:44So, the vault from the basement corridor was strengthened
0:20:44 > 0:20:49by the addition of massive stone arches to help support the great staircase.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53And the vaults in the kitchen were also strengthened to support
0:20:53 > 0:20:57the weight of a redesigned double-height hall.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It seems that neither of these heavy stone structures
0:21:02 > 0:21:06was in prospect when the building of the basement started.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10So why did the house get grander in conception?
0:21:13 > 0:21:15We need to look at the family history.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19In 1687, Sir William Fermor's second wife died.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Perhaps that's why work on the house stopped.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26But five years later, he married again and hit the jackpot.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29He married the daughter of the Duke of Leeds,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33one of the most important grandees in the country.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36He was the main Tory sponsor of William and Mary
0:21:36 > 0:21:41and became King and Queen after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48The Duke wasted no time in pulling strings for his son-in-law.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Within six weeks of his marriage, Sir William Fermor joined the peerage.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57He became Lord Leominster, or "Lemster".
0:21:57 > 0:22:02The Glorious Revolution had ushered in a golden age for the aristocracy.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05To celebrate their increasing wealth and power,
0:22:05 > 0:22:10a spate of country-house building now began, Easton Neston included.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16The great house was the great statement of a landed family.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20And, of course, land was the basis of power, of political power.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Not just of economic power, but political power.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26And it was through land that you influenced this
0:22:26 > 0:22:28sort of political world around you.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33And the development of that estate is an investment in the future
0:22:33 > 0:22:38of your family and your descendants, being part of the ruling class.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42At the centre of this power network was marriage.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47With William Fermor, he has three marriages
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and he seems to move upwards.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53- He seems to be doing the, the... - Social ascent. Yeah.- Yes.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58This is about looking for... Marrying into a prestigious lineage.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01- So, clearly, money will come with that.- Yeah.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04But the social status is of some significance there.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- It gives a power. - Yes, because they're marrying,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11not just into an important lineage, the patronage networks
0:23:11 > 0:23:17come with that and that's a way to get all of those sorts of political influence and so on.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Power, patronage and political influence,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27though voters were often in their pockets,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31were part and parcel of the aristocrat's trappings.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33But they were also at pains to show
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that they were people of culture and learning.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40The country house had also to advertise its owner's taste.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48In 1691, with his third marriage in prospect,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Sir William bought a collection of important statues.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55They were known as the Arundel Marbles after Lord Arundel,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59who had collected them in the early 17th century.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It's the first-ever British collection of statues
0:24:02 > 0:24:05from ancient Greece and Rome.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10The hall and staircase weren't just the showpieces of the house,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14they were also conceived as the setting for the Arundel Marbles.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Sir William Fermor was intent on becoming
0:24:17 > 0:24:19the Charles Saatchi of his day,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22the possessor of Britain's finest private art collection.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30The staircase was, in many ways, designed around the Arundel Marbles,
0:24:30 > 0:24:35which occupied these various niches each side of the staircase hall.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Here's a statue, modern addition.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41It does the job rather, rather beautifully actually,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46but here would have been one of the great, inspirational Arundel Marbles.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50And on the wall between the niches where the marbles sat,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54is a series of rather stupendous wall paintings,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58executed by James Thornhill just after the house was completed.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Thornhill was one of the leading artists of his day.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06He also painted the interior of the dome of St Paul's.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12The whole thing works as an ascending art gallery.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15And that's the point, in a way, this is like a museum, in a way,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17these were the pioneers of the public museum,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19because in the 18th century,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22groups of people came here, two or three groups a week,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24to admire the Arundel Marbles,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29to be inspired by them, but also to enjoy Thornhill's paintings.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37These parts of the house, meant to impress important visitors,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40took up a huge amount of space.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Now remember, space was in short supply, because the wings
0:25:44 > 0:25:46had already been built.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51So how did Hawksmoor fit in the less-spectacular rooms
0:25:51 > 0:25:54that were essential for the running of the house?
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Luckily, he left a guide to show us just how ingenious he'd been!
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Up until 2005, it was at the house.
0:26:04 > 0:26:10Now it's at the study centre of the Royal Institute of British Architects
0:26:10 > 0:26:14in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19Well, the model of Easton Neston.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23One of the most important, fascinating
0:26:23 > 0:26:27and enigmatic objects in British architectural history.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It dates from the very late 17th century
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and, simply, models from that period really do not survive!
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Also, of course, it's by one of Britain's greatest architects.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41What a fantastic opportunity to see, in the making,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45one of Britain's greatest country houses.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Here we can see how the hall
0:26:49 > 0:26:53once rose the full height of the building.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57But Hawksmoor had to work hard to make room for it.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02So, these little bedrooms and service areas,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04including these service staircases here,
0:27:04 > 0:27:09are really packing the spaces together in a very, very ingenious manner,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12because so much of the volume of the house has gone
0:27:12 > 0:27:17for the great state rooms, the double-height hall, the great staircase. Here's the clever bit.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20There aren't just two storeys set above the basement,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23as the garden elevation implies, but four storeys
0:27:23 > 0:27:27at the south end of the house and five at the north end!
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Cunningly hidden away are mezzanine floors,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33into which Hawksmoor crammed staircases for servants
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and bedrooms for less-important guests.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39On the north elevation, this is made plain!
0:27:41 > 0:27:44And here we can see that there was one major difference
0:27:44 > 0:27:48between this model and what was actually built.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52At this stage in the design, there are two storeys of columns.
0:27:52 > 0:27:58But evidently, this didn't satisfy the customer's insatiable demand for ostentation.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00He wanted more swank!
0:28:00 > 0:28:03And he got it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Hawksmoor made the building grander and more imposing still,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10as travellers on what was the main road to Northampton
0:28:10 > 0:28:12might just have noticed.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16This is the view the public would have had of the house.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20This is why its design got increasingly grand!
0:28:23 > 0:28:27And here was the 18th-century equivalent of a heated swimming pool,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31palm trees and helipad on the roof.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34These columns, which rise the full height of the house,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37are in a style made famous by Michelangelo.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42They are called the "giant order" and the constitute a giant statement.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Now, the giant order carries many messages
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and for Hawksmoor, it would have the stamp of Roman authority.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51The client would have loved that association.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Gave him also, of course, the dignity and authority of a Roman senator!
0:28:58 > 0:29:02The same swaggering spirit is also present in the Roman design
0:29:02 > 0:29:05of the capitals.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09But there's a rather curious
0:29:09 > 0:29:12and charming variation on antique prototype.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Hawksmoor introduced the head of a lion!
0:29:15 > 0:29:19There it is, at the centre, at the top of a complete capital,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22a lion's head. But why a lion's head?
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Well, because the client had recently been made Lord "Lemster",
0:29:26 > 0:29:28or Lord Leominster.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32"Leo" for lion.
0:29:36 > 0:29:42And to top it all, "Hora E Sempre" - now and always.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44There's confidence for you!
0:29:46 > 0:29:48Contemporaries raved about the building.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52One wrote that, "In the opinion of good judges,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55"no seat in Europe exceeds it!"
0:29:56 > 0:29:59A resounding triumph for Nicholas Hawksmoor, then?
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Alas, it's not so simple.
0:30:06 > 0:30:0940 years ago, an eminent architectural historian
0:30:09 > 0:30:11set the cat amongst the pigeons.
0:30:11 > 0:30:19He suggested that the house was built between 1685 and 1695 in brick,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22partly to designs by Nicholas Hawksmoor
0:30:22 > 0:30:27and partly to designs by Hawksmoor's old master, Sir Christopher Wren!
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Five years later, the argument goes,
0:30:34 > 0:30:39Hawksmoor covered the brick house in stone and added the giant order.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44This theory, if true, would reduce Hawksmoor's role
0:30:44 > 0:30:47in the creation of the house and deny him the full credit
0:30:47 > 0:30:50for his first major independent commission.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57And now the time has come to test this troublesome theory
0:30:57 > 0:31:00against the insights offered by modern science.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04DRILL WHIRRS
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Up in the attics, the tree-ring dating specialist Robert Howard
0:31:10 > 0:31:14has taken a dozen or so samples from the original roof timbers.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19Here, we hope, is the answer once and for all.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24You can see the growth rings of this particular tree on this sample
0:31:24 > 0:31:27which I've sanded up and polished just to show them.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31- Yeah.- And you can see that there are variations in width
0:31:31 > 0:31:36over the lifetime of this tree caused by the weather and it is rather like a supermarket bar code.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41- So, you feel confident these samples can give a really precise accuracy? - Absolutely.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46I feel very confident. Prognosis, result, is very good indeed.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Whatever he did or didn't design, Hawksmoor finished
0:31:54 > 0:31:57the main fabric of the house in 1702,
0:31:57 > 0:32:03and for nearly four decades, the Fermor family lived high on the hog.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10In 1721, aged just 24,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14the son of the builder of the house became an earl, Earl Pomfret.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22To celebrate, he decided to spruce up his collection of marbles.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27As is the habit of ancient statues, many torsos were missing limbs.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31The earl decided to make good that deficit.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34He hired an Italian sculptor named Giovanni Guelfi
0:32:34 > 0:32:36to add new heads and limbs.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44This book, published in the 1760s,
0:32:44 > 0:32:49records the appearance of the Arundel Marbles' various statues
0:32:49 > 0:32:55after the First Earl had had his way with them!
0:32:55 > 0:33:02What fun they must have had deciding what would go where.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05This here, for example - Paris.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10Head, legs, parts of the body added.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12This was on the staircase.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16And throughout the 18th century, this would have been regarded
0:33:16 > 0:33:20as an exemplary, inspirational piece of ancient art until tastes changed.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28They were for years the family's pride and joy
0:33:28 > 0:33:32and the first Lord Leominster specified in his will
0:33:32 > 0:33:34that they were to stay in the house forever.
0:33:34 > 0:33:40But, they're not here now. What happened?
0:33:43 > 0:33:47The answer is that cracks were beginning to appear
0:33:47 > 0:33:49in the Fermor facade.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53The magnificent image shown to the public was increasingly a lie.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58Behind the scenes, in private, the Earl and Countess were going broke.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03Easton Neston provided status - it burnt money!
0:34:03 > 0:34:06By the late 1730s,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09the ink was so red they had to relocate to Italy,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14where the living was cheaper, and close Easton Neston down for three years.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22And with the next generation, things were to get even worse!
0:34:29 > 0:34:31The Fermor family is not very well-known,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34but there's a wonderful mosaic of information
0:34:34 > 0:34:37lurking in various archives throughout the land.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40And, if this information is brought together,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43a rather fascinating picture emerges!
0:34:44 > 0:34:46In letters and court reports,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49we meet the black sheep of the Fermor family,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51the son of the First Earl.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54He was going broke even quicker than his parents.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58In letter after letter, his father pleads with him to economise
0:34:58 > 0:35:03and not gamble. Despite all the advice from his father, the son,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05George Fermor, did not reform.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09He was very much a rake, indeed an extreme example of a Georgian rake.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13He was involved, as far as we know, in at least four duels!
0:35:13 > 0:35:18And in one, in 1752, he actually killed an opponent,
0:35:18 > 0:35:19a fellow guard officer!
0:35:19 > 0:35:22They were fighting with swords and he ran the chap through!
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Now this was potentially a case of murder.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28He was indeed sent to trial at the Old Bailey
0:35:28 > 0:35:32and ultimately was found guilty of manslaughter, which, for him,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35was very fortunate, otherwise he could have been executed!
0:35:38 > 0:35:41On another occasion, we're told he lost £12,000
0:35:41 > 0:35:44at a single sitting at cards!
0:35:44 > 0:35:47That's 500 times what a labourer earned in a year!
0:35:53 > 0:35:57The estate could hardly have gone to a less safe pair of hands.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01But the aristocracy were no fools.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Over the years they constructed a built-in safety net
0:36:05 > 0:36:10to protect country houses, contents, estates, wealth and status,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13from improvident eldest sons.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18They did it by various legal methods that prevented the eldest son
0:36:18 > 0:36:22selling off the house or estate.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25The land had to stay in the family.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Unable to trust his wayward son to provide dowries
0:36:30 > 0:36:35for his unmarried sisters, the Earl took drastic action.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39He couldn't prevent his eldest son inheriting the house,
0:36:39 > 0:36:44but he could stop him getting his hands on the contents.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48The Earl duly changed his will and left his movable possessions
0:36:48 > 0:36:50to his daughters.
0:36:50 > 0:36:57And so when the First Earl died in 1753, there was a huge sale,
0:36:57 > 0:37:01in which virtually everything apart from the family portraits was sold off.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08When I say everything, I mean everything.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12This is a copy of the catalogue for the 1753 sale.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16It says here, "Catalogue of some household furniture.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20"Brewing vessels, garden rollers, cucumber frames, glasses, etc,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24"of the right honourable Earl of Pomfret, deceased."
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Great variety of bedsteads, curtains.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30But also there are things one would regard as fittings! Lead cisterns.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34Kitchen furniture. They were going to sell the kitchen sink!
0:37:34 > 0:37:39I imagine when these things were sold, the house was pretty well uninhabitable!
0:37:39 > 0:37:44"A large range, two pot hooks. A lead curb round the sink."
0:37:44 > 0:37:46It really is the kitchen sink!
0:37:46 > 0:37:50These people are desperate for the last penny!
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And the Arundel Marbles, the family's pride and joy,
0:37:56 > 0:38:02were donated to Oxford, out of the clutches of the Second Earl, as he'd now become.
0:38:06 > 0:38:12Imagine, you're the Second Earl in 1754, and your house,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16the symbol of your aristocratic status, is echoing,
0:38:16 > 0:38:22empty apart from family portraits looking accusingly down from the walls.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26And all of this is your fault, the result of your spendthrift habits.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31Would you hang your head in shame? I should hope so! Did the Second Earl?
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Probably not. What he did was look around for a solution.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37And he needed one!
0:38:41 > 0:38:43He'd inherited a mortgage of £6,000.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Within ten years, it stood at £30,000.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51That's more than seven times the estate's annual rental income!
0:38:56 > 0:38:59But then, as bankruptcy beckoned, with one bound,
0:38:59 > 0:39:03our hero was free, or at least married!
0:39:05 > 0:39:08What we know of Anna Maria is that she was somewhat
0:39:08 > 0:39:12on the stout side and very rich.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14One contemporary observer
0:39:14 > 0:39:18said she was like "a richly-laden treasure ship",
0:39:18 > 0:39:22another that "her tonnage was equal to her poundage".
0:39:22 > 0:39:24But, whatever her appearance,
0:39:24 > 0:39:28she brought much-needed money into the family.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34There are no known portraits of the Second Earl, but here,
0:39:34 > 0:39:39in the parish church, well away from the altar, we can make his acquaintance.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47Here he is, the reckless Georgian rake.
0:39:47 > 0:39:53With him is his wife, Anna Maria. An interesting monument, this.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55He has his head in his hand,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59I suppose worrying about the afterlife, though it does rather look
0:39:59 > 0:40:01as if he's worrying about his money troubles.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06And she was described in life as looking like a well-laden treasure ship,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09here, of course, looking very svelte indeed. Lovely.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13What happened to her money? We're not quite sure.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16But what we do know is the Earl did not use it
0:40:16 > 0:40:20to pay off the mortgage on Easton Neston.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28The honour of trying to pay that off went to the son of George
0:40:28 > 0:40:30and Anna Maria, the Third Earl.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36His tomb is also to be found in the parish church.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Here he is, sitting, looking very composed.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45It says here, "George, Third Earl of Pomfret.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49"A dutiful son: a most kind brother:
0:40:49 > 0:40:51"a father to all his family:
0:40:51 > 0:40:57"a beneficent landlord: a beloved master: a sincere Christian."
0:40:57 > 0:41:01But it does not say, of course, he was a good and loving husband.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03And that's the way it is!
0:41:03 > 0:41:08So often with monuments, it is what is not said that says everything.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14The Third Earl certainly was a husband.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Indeed, thanks to his mortgage, he took up the family business
0:41:18 > 0:41:21with a considerable enthusiasm and, like his father,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23snapped up an heiress.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29Mary Trollope Browne was the daughter of a rich landowner,
0:41:29 > 0:41:33rather stiffly described as "an opulent wine merchant".
0:41:36 > 0:41:38No pictures of her exist.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41All we know about her is that she was 25
0:41:41 > 0:41:47and absolutely loaded, to the tune of nearly £120,000!
0:41:47 > 0:41:52A master craftsman might earn £200 a year.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58The only problem for the Earl was that, in aristocrat marriages,
0:41:58 > 0:42:02the wife's money was usually protected by a marriage settlement,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05the prenuptial agreement of its day.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Mary agreed to cough up £30,000 to pay off the mortgage.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15The other £90,000, she would keep!
0:42:18 > 0:42:20So far, so good.
0:42:20 > 0:42:26But then, as so often in the history of a marriage, a mother-in-law throws a spanner into the works,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29in this case, by her unexpected death!
0:42:32 > 0:42:36Because the mother-in-law dies, her money goes straight to him?
0:42:36 > 0:42:40Yes, because she doesn't make a will. Now, if she'd made a will...
0:42:40 > 0:42:43- Ah, yeah. - ..where she's set that money aside
0:42:43 > 0:42:45for her daughter's separate use,
0:42:45 > 0:42:50the daughter would have been safe. But because this money goes straight to the husband,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53that's one of the complaints that the wife makes...
0:42:53 > 0:42:58Which is that once he got his hands on her money, he treated her badly.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05With the marriage in meltdown, the Earl and Countess separate
0:43:05 > 0:43:11and soon lawyers are called in to establish who is at fault.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16The Earl accuses Mary of physical violence and being scruffy.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20She accuses him of mental cruelty and adultery.
0:43:20 > 0:43:26They do separate, but the Earl still wants his £30,000.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Mary tells him he can whistle for it.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34And then finally, 25 years after the marriage,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37the Court of Chancery decides in the Earl's favour.
0:43:40 > 0:43:46For the first time in 65 years, the family is back in the black!
0:43:51 > 0:43:54How did all this affect Easton Neston?
0:43:54 > 0:43:57The real change caused by Mary's money wasn't seen in the house,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01but in the grounds, the acreage of which was increased.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10When the Third Earl came into funds in the early 1820s,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14he commissioned this splendid gate and neoclassical screen.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16At the same time,
0:44:16 > 0:44:21he moves some public roads further away from the main house.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The object, of course, was to increase the splendour
0:44:24 > 0:44:29and isolation of the setting of Easton Neston.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35But, despite the family motto, "Now And Always", in 1867,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39the male Fermor line died out and, through marriage,
0:44:39 > 0:44:44Easton Neston passed to a new family, the Heskeths,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46who duly became Fermor-Heskeths.
0:44:51 > 0:44:52Thanks to marriage
0:44:52 > 0:44:55to terrifyingly-rich American heiresses,
0:44:55 > 0:44:57the old Fermor formula,
0:44:57 > 0:45:02the Heskeths managed to keep the house afloat, and then some.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08This was the new money that paid for the hall to be altered in the 1890s.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17Meanwhile, daily life in the house continued almost as if in a time capsule.
0:45:23 > 0:45:29Trish York began to work as a lady's maid here in 1975 for Lady Hesketh.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31At that point, Easton Neston was still very much
0:45:31 > 0:45:34in Upstairs, Downstairs mode.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40As a young lady's maid, it was my duty to clean these stairs.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42- You cleaned the stairs?- Absolutely.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45- Every bit of the wrought iron, yes. - And the other thing is...
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- Yeah.- Oh, the wrought iron. - Absolutely.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50And Lady Hesketh used to come along
0:45:50 > 0:45:52and she'd inspect every single one
0:45:52 > 0:45:56and if it wasn't right, she'd come and tell us or she'd do it herself.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00In the '70s, what was life like?
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Was it really, as one might imagine,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06- a great Victorian country house to be in?- Yes, it was.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10Everybody had their job to do and the butler would preside over us all.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14He followed us around and made sure that everything was done.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16When we said that a room had been done
0:46:16 > 0:46:18or that cushions had been plumped up
0:46:18 > 0:46:21when people had gone to dinner, he would come in and check that.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24MUSIC: "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy
0:46:26 > 0:46:30But the house was soon to enter a somewhat more informal stage.
0:46:31 > 0:46:38In 1973, the present Lord Hesketh set up a Formula 1 racing team.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Here was a chapter every bit as colourful
0:46:41 > 0:46:46as anything Easton Neston had yet seen.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49When Lord Hesketh was more in control of the house,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52your role presumably changed to a degree?
0:46:52 > 0:46:56It changed in the different calibre of people that were coming along.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00It wasn't gentry that were coming along or aristocrats as much.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04They were coming along, but it was generally more everyday people.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09- Did they know how to behave though, the guests?- No, not at all.- No. That's fascinating.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11That's how the world had changed.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16- Yeah.- The guests didn't know how to behave!- No, absolutely not. No. - Yeah. Interesting, isn't it?
0:47:16 > 0:47:19And a lot of them were models and things
0:47:19 > 0:47:21that had never been to a big house before
0:47:21 > 0:47:24and just suddenly thought, "Oh, I've got people on hand to get me
0:47:24 > 0:47:27"a cup of tea and constantly ringing the bell,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30"cos they wanted you to come and get them some ice or whatever."
0:47:30 > 0:47:33And you'd say, "Well, the ice is in the cupboard just there."
0:47:34 > 0:47:39The Hesketh Racing team enjoyed great early success.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43In 1974, James Hunt won at Silverstone.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47In 1975, Team Hesketh won a Grand Prix,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50the last privately-owned team ever to do so.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58Mick Broom came to work here at Easton Neston as an engineer.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Can you tell me a bit more about, you know, the Formula 1 days here?
0:48:02 > 0:48:05A lot of what will be remembered was
0:48:05 > 0:48:08obviously the fact that he was a privateer, he didn't have any backing
0:48:08 > 0:48:13but they also approached the racing a lot more different.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17They were professional, they worked hard in sort of
0:48:17 > 0:48:21producing the car from next to nothing, but they also played hard.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24And there's lots and lots of stories around of them
0:48:24 > 0:48:27going to Monaco with one car and three yachts,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30whereas most people went with one yacht and three cars, you know?
0:48:34 > 0:48:37When the racing team folded, that wasn't the end of motor sports
0:48:37 > 0:48:40here at Easton Neston.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43In a market full of inexpensive Japanese imports,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Lord Hesketh picked up the gauntlet and tried to revive
0:48:47 > 0:48:49the ailing British luxury bike industry.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52- I built this personally. - This, actual...this one?
0:48:52 > 0:48:55- This, this bike, yes.- Ooh!
0:48:55 > 0:48:59It was, it was a labour of love more than anything else in those days,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03because we, we were starting from almost raw aluminium.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06It was a job which was inspired by the surroundings,
0:49:06 > 0:49:12It's not the sort of thing that you normally get when you're working on motorbikes in back sheds.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14It was inspired by the building?
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Did the beauty of Hawksmoor's house somehow inspire the design?
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Yes, basically, because, you know, it all came into the atmosphere.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24The atmosphere was definitely different
0:49:24 > 0:49:26from a normal commercial exercise.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31- It must have been expensive? - It was expensive because it was a low-volume one.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And it was destined not really to work because,
0:49:34 > 0:49:37and this is one of the other advantages of the atmosphere and the fact
0:49:37 > 0:49:41that there was a lord involved, because if you'd looked at it
0:49:41 > 0:49:43as a solid businessman in the '80s,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46when the bike industry was in decline and all the rest of it,
0:49:46 > 0:49:51and it was a very expensive bike coming in at the wrong time, you wouldn't do it!
0:49:51 > 0:49:55And that in a way, that quirkiness, you know, gave us the bike!
0:50:02 > 0:50:05One thing that's remained constant at Easton Neston
0:50:05 > 0:50:10throughout its history is the sheer cost of keeping it going.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15And in 2005, a long chapter in that history came to an end.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18The house's contents went under the hammer.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23The sale raised over £8 million, the second-greatest haul
0:50:23 > 0:50:28from a country house contents sale in British auction history.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35It was masterminded by James Miller of Sotheby's.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41Can you tell me, how important was the collection?
0:50:41 > 0:50:47Well, it was COLLECTIONS, because it was a collection which had grown
0:50:47 > 0:50:51and diminished in the middle of the 18th century and then grown again,
0:50:51 > 0:50:52and then put on colossal weight
0:50:52 > 0:50:55at the end of the 19th and early 20th century.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58And there have been a succession of members of either Fermors
0:50:58 > 0:51:02or Heskeths who had both a liking for works of art,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05a good eye and the wherewithal to express it.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09So it's layer upon layer, accretions of taste.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12And, to me, I find that almost more exciting
0:51:12 > 0:51:17than having a complete picture. I like a jigsaw puzzle where you put things together.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20But it obviously was an important collection insofar as
0:51:20 > 0:51:23reflecting the history of this house and the history of the family?
0:51:23 > 0:51:29It's important, because you've got a house which was built for a collection, the Arundel,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32but I think this house was always meant for display,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35so you tended not to be able to get away with what you and I
0:51:35 > 0:51:41- might call charming but domestic furniture.- Yeah. - It's got to earn its keep here.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43You can't just put in any old bit of mahogany.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48If you were a bad object, you sort of had to go away.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56The sale of 2005 has an almost uncanny resemblance to the sale of 1753,
0:51:56 > 0:52:01when the house was stripped virtually bare.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09Here again, along with great paintings and grand furniture,
0:52:09 > 0:52:14there are many far humbler day-to-day objects up for sale.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19For example, a child's croquet set, including five balls,
0:52:19 > 0:52:22four mallets and six hoops. 40 quid!
0:52:25 > 0:52:31And here, a Victorian iron garden roller with loop
0:52:31 > 0:52:35and heart-pierced end, indeed.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Heartbreaking. 80 quid!
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Everything had to go.
0:52:42 > 0:52:43Virtually everything did go.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58Not long after the auction, the house itself was sold.
0:52:58 > 0:53:04"In a good year," Lord Hesketh said, "the estate lost half a million pounds.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08"In a bad year, three times that amount."
0:53:08 > 0:53:12Unlike his ancestor, the Second Earl, back in 1753,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Lord Hesketh could sell the family seat, and he did.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21The whole estate was put on sale for £50 million,
0:53:21 > 0:53:23but there were no takers.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27So the land that was, in theory, meant to support the house,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29was broken up into smaller pieces.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35600 prime acres, plus the house itself, was snapped up
0:53:35 > 0:53:41by the Los Angeles-based, Russian-born fashion magnate Leon Max.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Price - £15 million.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56I had this romantic idea that I should live
0:53:56 > 0:54:01in the country in England, in some beautiful, old, white elephant
0:54:01 > 0:54:05of a house, where I could set up a design studio.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08And I looked at a few houses.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11This one was not quite in the price range,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15this was a little too expensive.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18But at some point, we made a deal with the Heskeths
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and here we are.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24So, did he leave you any, any welcoming gifts, Lord Hesketh?
0:54:24 > 0:54:30Yes, there was a bottle of vodka with a note, "Welcome, and..."
0:54:30 > 0:54:33- you know.- "Good luck!"- "Good luck!"
0:54:33 > 0:54:38Having moved into a virtually empty house, Leon Max began the job
0:54:38 > 0:54:42of decorating it in the style of the 18th century.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49Feels very much a traditional English country house interior.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53- Wonderful paintings, all acquired by you!- Yes, it was interesting.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56It sort of became a hobby for me.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Well, I run a dotcom, so I have a lot of very clever boys
0:54:59 > 0:55:04on my staff and, and they'd done a model, so we could...
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Anything that came up at auction that I thought
0:55:07 > 0:55:11was the appropriate piece, would be scaled and placed in that model.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15And so it was all done on-line, everything was bought on-line,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and hence everything fits rather well.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And so, from pleasure to business.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30- Oh, lovely.- As you can see, this is one of our advertising shots here.
0:55:30 > 0:55:37Here, in the restored wing, is Max Studio's European headquarters.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41- Yeah.- Oh, good Lord, this is... It's hard to see...
0:55:41 > 0:55:44- It does seem a long way from Hawksmoor, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47Easton Neston was built to lend glamour and status
0:55:47 > 0:55:51to its aristocratic owners, and then did so to a motor sports team!
0:55:55 > 0:56:00Now it's being used as a backdrop for the most glamorous business of all - fashion.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04And the Hawksmoor design continues to inspire!
0:56:06 > 0:56:09I truly believe this is one of, if not THE most,
0:56:09 > 0:56:11beautiful design studio in the world.
0:56:12 > 0:56:17I think it's impossible to make anything ugly in this setting.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20And we're in the business of putting beautiful things
0:56:20 > 0:56:22into the world, and so here we are.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36Owners come and go, the house lives on.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40Easton Neston has entered a new, if unexpected, chapter.
0:56:41 > 0:56:49It's one of the greatest buildings in Britain and certainly one of my favourite country houses.
0:56:49 > 0:56:50And so it's time, finally,
0:56:50 > 0:56:54to solve the mystery of who designed it and when.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58Was it begun in the 1680s to a design by Sir Christopher Wren,
0:56:58 > 0:57:03or was it Hawksmoor's work alone, built nearer to 1702?
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Let's get the verdict of the tree-ring dating!
0:57:07 > 0:57:08Well, good to see you.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10Let's hear your results!
0:57:10 > 0:57:14I'm not sure what date you were really expecting, but I can reveal,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17having taken several samples from the timbers, that...
0:57:17 > 0:57:20- In the roof?- In the roof, yes, of the main house, yes,
0:57:20 > 0:57:26they were all felled between the spring of 1700 and the spring of 1701.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28- Well, that's completely spot-on. - Oh, really!
0:57:28 > 0:57:31- Just what one would expect.- Great.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34This has now been solved, put to bed this speculation.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38You've answered one of the great questions of English architectural history!
0:57:38 > 0:57:41- Such a frustration, that whole question!- Good.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46Because, actually, now, Hawksmoor reigns supreme in the attics.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Hawksmoor came back here in 1731,
0:57:57 > 0:58:02nearly 30 years after the exterior of the house had been completed.
0:58:02 > 0:58:07At that point, he was ill and his architecture had fallen from favour.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14But, he at least was still pleased with what he saw.
0:58:14 > 0:58:21He wrote at the time, "You can hardly avoid loving your own children."
0:58:25 > 0:58:27# The stately homes of England
0:58:27 > 0:58:29# How beautiful they stand
0:58:29 > 0:58:33# To prove the upper classes have still the upper hand
0:58:33 > 0:58:35# Though the fact they have to be rebuilt
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# And frequently mortgaged to the hilt
0:58:37 > 0:58:41# Is inclined to take the gilt off the gingerbread
0:58:41 > 0:58:45# And certainly damps the fun of the eldest son
0:58:45 > 0:58:47# But still we won't be beaten
0:58:47 > 0:58:49# We'll scrimp and screw and save
0:58:49 > 0:58:51# The playing fields of Eton
0:58:51 > 0:58:52# Have made us frightfully brave
0:58:52 > 0:58:54# And though if the Van Dykes have to go
0:58:54 > 0:58:56# And we pawn the Bechstein grand
0:58:56 > 0:59:00# We'll stand by the stately homes of England. #