SQUAB means pigeon—there isn’t any pigeon in this pie.’ I am being taught to make Devonshire squab pie by Avis Crocombe, the cook at Audley End House near Saffron Walden in Essex in late-Victorian times. I’ve not quite managed the art of time travel—she’s talking to me from my iPad, which I’ve balanced on my fruit bowl as I fry off mutton cutlets. We’ve also been through Victorian ice cream, unseasonal mince pies and chocolate pudding. Next week, I’m planning a traditional Victorian kedgeree for brunch.
Mrs Crocombe is actually historical interpreter Kathy Hipperson, who has for the past 13 years been portraying the cook—currently via a YouTube series. With almost 40 videos, it has been a magnificent success: a guide on how to make butter has had more than 10 million views.
Her journey to internet stardom began in 2007 when English Heritage (EH), which runs Audley End, once owned by Charles II due to its proximity to Newmarket racecourse, decided to re-present the service wing. With Past Pleasures, a historical interpretation company then led by food historian Annie Gray, they focused on the kitchen in the 1880s.
Who was Avis?
Denne historien er fra July 21, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 21, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Give it some stick
Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart
Paper escapes
Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024
For love, not money
This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn
A love supreme
Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different
Private views
One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that
Shhhhhh...
THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.
Mission impossible
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story
When a perfect storm hits
Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals
Give the dog a bone
Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course
