The Scapegoat, a novel written by Daphne Du Maurier in 1957, concerns a man who one day by chance meets his double, an aristocrat beset with financial and family woes. The aristocrat gets his new acquaintance drunk and persuades him to swap places, leading to an unfortunate chain of events as he meets the family and attempts to conceal the pretence.
The novel was set in France, and in 1959 a film adaptation was made, also set in France. In 2012 a second film, starring Matthew Rhys as the two doubles, switched the action to Britain, starring Knebworth House as the aristocrat’s family home.
 |
| Knebworth House - geograph.org.uk - 6582377. Photo by Jim Osley, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Knebworth House dates from the 15th century, when Sir Robert Lytton, a close confidant of King Henry VII, purchased the Manor of Knebworth, which was probably a Saxon settlement previously, and set about building the original house. Successive generations of Lyttons inherited the property. In 1843 Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton transformed the property into the Tudor Gothic style which was fashionable at the time. In more recent times the estate has got a name for itself as a concert venue, with such rock greats as Pink Floyd and Genesis playing there.
Knebworth House, which is located to the south-west of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, is open to the public on selected dates from March to September. As well as the house and gardens, there is a Dinosaur Trail for the kids, and exhibitions on the Lyttons, filming locations and the concerts held there.
No comments:
Post a Comment