LIFE IN THE PAST LANE

by Sarah Clark

There’s going to be a big free historical exhibition at Cotehele estate near Saltash.

Victorian landed family the Edgcumbes owned Cotehele for almost 600 years and their estate was tended to by a vast cadre of servants and tenants.

The exhibition will tell all about the Edgcumbes, their the property’s ‘grotto’ is set up to celebrate Cotehele’s pets (and various other animals).

The NT’s Charmian Saunders said: ‘For years our visitors have been asking us about the personal lives of the people who lived in the house.

“So this year we’re very excited to be able to tell them more privileged details than ever before.’

“Visitors will be able to explore the living room of Mr and Mrs Paddon, the Edgcumbe family’s butler and housekeeper.

“The Paddons, who had three boys and a girl of their own, would have looked after Lady Ernestine Edgcumbe, who lived in the East Range from 1862-1905.

“Her harmonium has been restored, and visitors will be able to try out music from her hand-written manuscript book that was recently purchased by the National Trust on e-bay.

“Photography was another hobby of the Victorian Edgcumbes and visitors will be able to create and photograph their own antiquarian display from the collection of artifacts and objet d’art provided.”

The ‘Life in the Past Lane’ exhibition in Cotehele House opens this season and will continue through the end of 2014.

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Posted by admin on March 2, 2012. Filed under NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry