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Arlington Court
Arlington Court is a neo-classical Grade 2 listed building commissioned by John Palmer Chichester and built in the period 1820 - 1823. The Chichester family historically one of the leading ancient gentry families of Devon. Sir Francis Chichester the world famous solo yachts man is related. The most recent encumbent of the property was Rosalie Chichester who left the property to the trust back in 1949. A talented lady and a collecter extaordinaire, which, is shown in the numerous items on display within the house, most of which are attributed to her. Most fascinating from my perspective, was the large number of boats, crafted many from animal bone, with such intricate detail. One particular boat pointed out to Pam & I by one of the volunteers, actually consisted of human bones, according to the very informative lady, who even removed the barrier ropes so that Pam could get a closer look. I simply strode over them to look and take pictures. A very interesting property, made more so by the sheer number of scale model boats on display. In addition to the house, within the grounds is housed the National Trust Carriage Collection. Builings within the grounds of the property are home to its collection of over 50 horse-drawn carriages, ranging from the humble Hansom cab to the grandiose State Coach. As impressive as they are the fascination for us both was the information surrounding Colonel Tom Thumb of "Barnum" fame, who visited England on a number of occasions and according to the museum had carriages made specially for him, his wife and children. On the first floor of the collection is a life size model of the Colonel, pictured below, along with one of his purpose made carriages. The Speaker's state coach which I photographed, without flash and without reading the notice asking that no photographs should be taken, for which, I apologise, profusely, for my mis-demeanour.
Above: A picture of the life size model of Charles Sherwood Stratton otherwise know as General Tom Thumb and a coach which was specifically made for him. Next the Speakers State Coach, an early example of 18th century craftsmanship, last used by the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1981 and now in the safe keeping of the Nationl Trust