High Tea and Stout Beer: Audley End House

Thanks to my intrepid friend Barbara who had no fear of driving over hill and dale (and the M11), I was able to visit the beautiful home I had glimpsed from the bus window on my ride into Cambridge two weeks ago. Audley End is a Jacobean mansion, built for the entertainment of King James I by Thomas Howard aided by a bit of embezzlement of the King's treasury. What exists today is only a third of the original size; the house was simply too large for people to maintain and today it belongs to the English Heritage foundation although the contents are still in the possession of the current Earl of Brayford. During WW II the home was a secret training station for Polish soldiers. Inside the house--where no photography was allowed--the most impressive room was the great hall with its high ceilings, intricate oak carvings, fireplace, animal heads, and many portrait paintings. In addition to the bedrooms, drawing rooms, and libraries, there were rooms filled with stuffed animals and birds. Apparently it was very popular at one time to send away for fauna of many regions to put on display. In addition to the house we visited the grounds which included the formal garden or Parterre at the rear of the house, the walled kitchen garden with its many espaliered fruit trees, the kitchen, and the stable along with horses Jack and Captain. The flower gardens looked to be in full bloom with many of the same kinds of flowers we enjoy--only ours tend to look worn out by this time of year.