LOVEJOY'S BIT OF POSH: BELCHAMP HALL, SUFFOLK

 The 1980s/1990s series Lovejoy somehow passed me by at the time, but, having since developed an interest in antiques, I decided to catch up on the series thanks to the wonders of modern streaming technology.  Most of the filming of the series takes place in Essex and Suffolk, with one property in Suffolk making a regular appearance.

The roguish antiques dealer Lovejoy (Ian McShane) keeps varied company, often straying on the wrong side of the law, while his line of work also brings him into contact with the upper echelons of society.  One particularly aristocratic friend of his is Lady Jane Felsham (Phyllis Logan), who lives at Felsham Hall.  Although she is married, Lovejoy is an attractive man who has a way with the ladies, and one gets the impression that Lady Jane is a little bit infatuated with him.

The real-life property used as Felsham Hall in the series is Belchamp Hall, a couple of miles west of Sudbury in Suffolk.  Located in the hamlet of Belchamp Walter, the building is a handsome red brick pile of the Queen Anne period, home to the Raymond family since 1611, which forms part of a historic country estate.  Lovejoy fans who are feeling a bit flush can book a variety of accommodation options.  The Hall is also available for corporate functions. 

Belchamp Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1000673. Photo by Keith Evans, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Although the series finished many moons ago, there are still relics of it on view at Belchamp Hall and surrounding area.  Lovejoy’s workshop from the last two seasons remains in the grounds, the Church of St Mary featured in an episode in which Lovejoy was due to get married, and the original ‘Lovejoy Antiques’ sign is also visible.  Lovejoy was a dedicated pub-goer, and the Half Moon Inn in the nearby village of Belchamp St Paul made quite a few appearances in the series. 

'The Half Moon' inn, Belchamp St. Paul, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 225903. Photo by Robert Edwards, via Wikimedia Commons.

Belchamp Hall’s more recent claim to fame is that the grounds of the estate were used in the filming of the ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ film.

The nearby town of Sudbury is a delightful market town on the River Stour near the border with Essex.

Map of the area.

LAUREATE OF THE LAKES: ROBERT SOUTHEY/KESWICK

 There is a painting in Keswick Museum of a rather attractive young man with rosy cheeks and lips, dark curly hair and brown eyes.  The young man in question is Robert Southey, one of a trio of 18^th/19^th century poets associated with the Lake District.   The other two are William Wordsworth and Southey’s brother-in-law Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who we previously met in this blog living in Somerset.  Southey was born in Bristol, but he moved to Keswick in 1803 and died there 40 years later, spending 30 of those years as Poet Laureate. 

Robert Southey (1774-1843), Aged 31 John Opie (1761-1807) Keswick Museum. Via Wikimedia Commons.

During his time in the Lake District, Southey lived at Greta Hall, initially sharing it with the Coleridge family.  Occupying a position near the river in Keswick, Greta Hall was built around 1800.  The Hall was visited by a number of famous literary types including the Wordsworths, Charles Lamb, Shelly and Sir Walter Scott.  The Hall subsequently became a girls’ school and then girls’ boarding house, before becoming a private property when for a time it offered self-catering accommodation.  It was put up for sale in 2021 for £1.2 million and remains in private hands.

 

Greta Hall and Keswick Bridge by William Westall (1781-1850), via Wikimedia Commons.

I have struggled to find any poetry by Southey inspired by the Lake District.  His work covers a wide range of topics including various battles and wars, and the time he spent in Spain and Portugal, as well as the original version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  However, I found a poem by him titled “The Cataract of Lodore” (a Lake District beauty spot better known today as the Lodore Falls).  The poem was written in response to a query by Southey’s son, “How does the water come down at Lodore?”  The resulting poem comes across as an increasingly demented  but highly descriptive account of the descent of the falls, “smoking and frothing”...”striking and raging”...”swelling and sweeping”...”flying and flinging”...”heaving and cleaving”...”quivering and shivering”...”bubbling and troubling and doubling” – you get the picture. 

Lodore Falls 3. Photo by Antiquary, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

For those who want to check out this elaborate description for themselves, the Lodore Falls are near the southern edge of Derwentwater, just inland from the Lodore Falls Hotel and Spa. 

Map of the area.