The Drawing Room with its glittering chandelier contains a fine group of 18th century family portraits, and an exquisite small collection of period fans.
Visitors are welcomed in the Main Hall, a grand entrance watched over by portraits of the Bessborough family including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Harriet, wife of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough.
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The Drawing Room with its glittering chandelier contains a fine group of 18th century family portraits, and an exquisite small collection of period fans. |
The Library is preserved as it was when the 10th Earl of Bessborough lived in the House. It contains a vast collection of books and family records which are being expertly conserved and catalogued by NADFAS volunteers.The Stairway Hall with its fine oak staircase and Flemish tapestries also has a splendid collection of bird paintings.
The Music Room is furnished in a true European style with French chairs, a Bechstein Grand Piano (still in use for recitals and at weddings) Spanish travelling chests and portraits and family mementoes.
Passing a passenger lift installed in the early 1900's and still in use today you go ‘Below stairs’ and see how the servants lived and worked. These rooms are a rare survival of purpose-built Servants' Quarters within an English Country House in its Edwardian heyday.
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On Bank Holiday weekends the Stewards wear period costume and the House takes on a new aspect when visitors can interact with the 'Servants' and quiz them on their role in running the House. |
The Ancient Chapel of St Paul is built on the location of the first house built in 1480 and was restored by Goodhart-Rendel in the 1920s and in 1947 following damage caused during World War II. It houses the visionary glass window that inspired John Keats’ famous‘Ode to St Mark’ and is where in 1934 Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth) and her sister the late Princess Margaret were bridesmaids to Lady May Cambridge.
Guide Books and copies of Enchanted Forest - the Story of Stansted can be purchased at Stansted House or by mail order
Tel: 023 9241 2265 or email enquiry@stanstedpark.co.uk.