THE glorious Wye Valley, which straddles the border between England and Wales, provides a spectacular backdrop to one of Herefordshire’s most remarkable country houses, Whitney Court at Whitneyon-Wye, six miles north of Hay-on-Wye and 17 miles east of Hereford. For sale for the first time since it was built—at a guide price of £3 million through Peter Daborn of Savills in Telford (01952 239511)—the grand Edwardian country house stands in 22 acres of gardens and wooded parkland at the heart of the ancient Whitney estate, which was acquired by the Hope family in 1897.
According to a history compiled by the owners, the house was born of a collaboration between various members of the Hope family, the prime mover being Lady Mary Nugent, the widow of the Hon James Hope-Wallace of Featherstone Castle, Northumberland; her daughter-in-law Eliza Coats, youngest daughter of textile magnate Sir Peter Coats, joint founder of the Scottish thread-making firm of J. & P. Coats; Eliza’s favourite brother, another Peter Coats, ‘who found the necessary cash’; and Lady Mary’s second son, James Louis Alexander Hope, who ‘handled the aesthetic side of things, siting the new house brilliantly and choosing both architect and building style’. The site chosen lay ‘high and dry above the river valley and, not, like its two predecessors (both of which were eventually demolished), down and damp beside the River Wye, where cellars could flood several times a year’.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning