Right Hand DrivENG 2014: Hail Storms at the Wilton House

This morning we visited Wilton House, we were overly excited for our visit and arrived over an hour early, oops.

Wilton House is an English country house that has been the seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. King Henry VIII granted the estate to William Herbert along with the title of 1st Earl of Pembroke. At the time it was a deserted abbey. King Henry VIII and William Herbert became Brother's in-law when King Henry VII married his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr (she'd already been married 4 times, he was 51, she was 31.) William was married to Catherine's sister Anne.

Presently the home is occupied by William Herbert 18th Earl of Pembroke, his wife and young children. They occupy about 1/3 of that estate in private wings. The 18th Earl of Pembroke is currently 36 years old and is a super car fanatic (photos to follow) The Wilton House estate employs around 140 employees, spans over 14,000 acres, is divided into 14 farms (13 of which are tenants), has more than 200 residential properties, Salisbury Racecourse (Horseracing) and golf couse.

Now most importantly this house was used to shoot interiors for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie. (Are you surprised, you shouldn't be.)

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos while viewing the interior, but we really wish we could have. The art collection (valued at around $425 Million) alone was show stopping not to mention the interior architecture, rib vault ceilings, gold leafing, towering marble fireplaces and extensive ceiling artwork, our necks got stiff looking up, laying down on the floor would have been inappropriate but did cross our minds. The rooms that are open to the public are staterooms that were only used to entertain the most important house guests, typically a monarch or high ranking member of state.

We encourage you to watch Pride and Prejudice (2005) and The Young Victoria and check out the interiors of Wilton House. In Pride and Prejudice keep your eyes peeled for the scene where the handsome Mr. Darcy is contently listening to his sister Georgiana play her pianoforte, moments later Lizzie and her aunt and uncle (the Gardiner's) are welcomed into the room. The stateroom used in this scene is called the Double Cube Room, the most lavish room at Wilton House.

The Young Victoria film used interiors and exteriors of Wilton House. It "acted" as Albert's home in Coburg as he is courting the young queen and it's interiors were used to mimic those of Buckingham Palace.

Now go watch the movies, you won't regret it. (p.s. Scenes from Sense and Sensibility were also shot here, but we don't know which ones, forgive our ignorance, another great film to your list. Can you say Emma Thompson & Alan Rickman?!)

This pic is a good summary of what the weather has been like so far this trip. Except this cloud brought hail, so that was new.

Bugatti Veyron made of Castrol Oil bottles. Why? Not sure.

M1, had mud on the tires. So he does drive it.

Gunmetal gray Gullwing with red interior = beautiful.

We found a Nans replica! Here she is being an obnoxious tourist.

Welcome to Salisbury Cathedral home of England's tallest church spire (404ft, for a sense of scale the Seattle Space Needle is 605ft tall) The Cathedral construction started in 1220 AD and was completed in a brisk 38 years. Seriously that is fast, it's the 11th century! The Cathedral is also one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, Gothic that is.

Visitors can climb up the tower and spire in a two hour tour, we just ran out of time and Jen literally ran away when we mentioned climbing the spire. We enjoyed touring the cathedrals amazing interiors, sorry again interior photos in the actual cathedral were not allowed. We did have the opportunity to listen to a practicing choir. We just missed the Southern Gospel Choir, shoot. Only kidding.

Two last tidbits about Salisbury Cathedral that we found of interest. It contains the oldest working clock in the world (1386 AD) and has the best surviving copy of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was the first document to attempt to limit the power of the King of England by law and protect the rights of his subjects. This document was a stepping stone in establishing constitutional law in England and beyond. (Hello, America.)