Wightwick Manor

An hour or so north of Birmingham lies the city of Wolverhampton which is where we headed for a visit to Wightwick Manor. Boarding the bus I asked for a return ticket to Wightwick Manor (pronounced White wick).

"Where?" said the bus driver.

"White wick Manor, the National Trust property."

"Ah, Wightwick" (pronounced Wit tick)

"Yes. Sorry, I'm not from around here."

"No."

He then told us that he'd let us know where to exit, which he did, and also how to access the entrance. I guess he felt sorry for the foreigners.

Anyway, we were greeted at the entrance gate by a volunteer who directed us up a lovely walk to The house and garden.

From the outside it looks like an enormous Tudor property, but the house was actually built between 1887 and 1893. It's mock-Tudor, aka "Old English" and was built for Theodore and Flora Mander. He made his fortune in the manufacture of varnishes, paints and ink. In 1884 Thomas attended a lecture by Oscar Wilde who, in addition to being a writer, was the leader of the Aesthetic Movement. Wilde spoke about this movement which encompassed education, art, furniture, fashion, architecture, literature and many other aspects of expression. Three years after attending Wilde’s lecture, Theodore was building Wightwick Manor inspired by what he’d heard, and you can see the principles of the Aesthetic Movement within the interiors he chose. The wonderful thing about the Manor is that it is filled with all the original items of the Manders and descendants, not items "typical of the period" as is the case with so many stately homes.

The Manders were an unusual family in that they were vocal supporters of women's suffrage, held Suffragist meetings at their home, fought in parliament for women’s rights - especially for female domestic servants, and collected the work of 11 professional female artists. They were influenced by and supported the work of the "romantic rulebreakers" of the time who were often working for gender equality and fighting prejudice through their artistic endeavors. I don't think it's a great leap to say that their unusual interests and world view were possible because they weren't an old moneyed family steeped in tradition and the point of view that comes with it.

Entering the house

we were greeted by a very enthusiastic volunteer and her "trainee", a special needs girl who had memorized a few words for visitors. She was lavishly praised when she remembered what to say and it was quite sweet to watch her beam with pride at a job well done.

The first little room off the entryway was where visitors would be asked to wait when calling upon Mrs. Mander. It's a lovely light-filled room with a copper-hooded fireplace.

From there, we went to the drawing room which Flora Mander used for "at homes" for her female friends, received afternoon calls and welcomed gatherings after dinner.

It has carved wood paneling,

a glorious, ornate ceiling

and walls covered with William Morris fabric

The fireplace has original tiles by celebrated ceramicist William De Morgan.

One of the volunteers shared a little secret about the room. Hidden in the paneling is a door which leads to a small staircase which opens into Flora Mander's dressing room.

If an unexpected visitor called to see her, she could sneak upstairs, change into a beautiful dress, add jewelry and generally doll herself up, then come down the main staircase surprised and delighted to see her guest. One can almost hear her saying, "What, this old thing? I only wear it when I don't care how I look."

Also in this room is a painting of Jane Morris by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Maddox Brown, two preeminent pre-Raphaelite painters.

There is also a photograph of Lady Rosalie Mander, second wife of Theodore's son, Geoffrey, holding a cat.

This particular cat, Ricky, is a stray she picked up at a London train station. She brought him on the train with her and shared her ham sandwich with him. (He ate the ham, she ate the bread.)

The next room down the hall is the library, a very masculine looking room to me.

Past that is the Morning Room, where Flora would have given instructions to her housekeeper and cook for day's events. It was later set up as a sitting room, then as a breakfast room, as shown here.

From the Morning Room, one rounds the corner into the Great Hall. This space was used for entertaining. It's large enough to divide into separate sitting areas or to push back the furniture and use for dances.

How cozy and warm this area by the fireplace would have been.

There is a billiards room

whose walls feature a plaster frieze of the signs of the zodiac, very fashionable in Victorian times.

There is a photo of the special day in July 1900, when Duke and Duchess of York

(later King George V and Queen Mary) visited the Mander family at Wightwick Manor.

Off the billiards room is the dining room with its decorative ceiling.

Upstairs, there are two guest bedrooms.

I'm sure they were placed upstairs so that when guests left their bedrooms, they would be treated to a breathtaking view of the Great Hall below

and its embroidered wall panels.

On the wall that leads to the nursery there is an enormous needlework tapestry done by the students of the Royal School of Needlework. The panel is based on a painting by Edward Burne-Jones, The Mill. The pattern was altered slightly from the original, which featured naked male figures. This was deemed too risqué for the young ladies of the Royal School of Needlework. In order to preserve its color, it is kept in an area of very low light. The volunteer nearby illuminated it with her flashlight to show the wonderful colors.

The nursery if filled with games and toys and posters and great little illustrations.

After passing through the kitchen

we exited into the yard.

After a stop for a quick bite in the café, we visited the gallery. The upper level of the gallery contains tiles by William De Morgan.

The downstairs gallery features his ceramics and the magnificent paintings of his wife, Evelyn De Morgan. This seemed like a marvelous coincidence given my recent visit to the Tate Britain and its Now You See Us exhibition of woman artists. This painting, Port After Stormy Seas,

was exhibited with several other of her paintings at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1907 but not a single one of them was purchased by the gallery. By contrast, the Manders sought out women artists' work to buy.

Venus and Cupid:

Moonbeams Dipping Into the Sea:

Boreas and the Falling Leaves:

There were wonderful examples of William De Morgan's lusterware ceramics

and tile panels.

William De Morgan trained as a fine artist before his scientific training led him into decorative arts. He designed his own kilns and created innovative luster glazes. William and Evelyn were supportive of each other's art and prized art and creativity above everything. Sadly, according to a video showing in the gallery, this led them into terrible financial circumstances, as they never sought to make money from their work.

We left the gallery; Bruce to find a pub in the area, me to explore the gardens and grounds.

There are paths that lead past a kitchen garden and a disused glasshouse

through the woods to a lovely little pond.

Walking back up the hill to the house I came upon the copper beech tree planted by the Duchess of York (soon to be Queen Mary) on the royal visit to Wightwick in 1900.

A lovely house, a lovely day.