15 members met up at the historic Wilton House a few miles outside of Salisbury on Monday 23rd June 2025. We had booked for the 12:00 guided tour so we gathered in the café prior to the start for a coffee. Our guide gave us an outline of the house’s history and how the family had owned the estate for more than 450 years. Wilton House was originally an abbey, which after the Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries was given to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke whose family still live there, the current incumbent being the 18th, Earl.
As we progressed around the house, we walked down a number of corridors lined by statues that seemed familiar as they have been used in many films over the last 30 years. The house has had additions and remodelling by both Han Holbein and Inigo Jones and is a very impressive Grade 1 listed structure. Internally the house has a set of very impressive State Rooms. The Cube and the Double Cube room are the most spectacular as they are 30ft and 60ft long respectively, both 30ft wide and high. Both rooms are full of artwork that was either painted by Van Dyck when he was in residence (one portrait of the then Pembroke family covering one wall 30 ft wall). The house also displays art works by a number of other famous artists including Han Holbein, Rubens and Breughel. The rooms are packed with spectacular furniture all created for the house and the ceilings are painted with beautiful frescoes. One bookcase by Chippendale is alleged to be valued at £20 – £30 million!
On completion of the tour of the house we returned to the Café for an excellent lunch and then spent a couple of hours walking in the gardens alongside the River Nadder and visiting the Old Riding School where the current Earl displays his collection of cars, old and new. The river has a Palladian bridge which became the template for many similar bridges to be built in other large houses in the UK.
Feedback from the members attending was overwhelmingly positive with remarks like I never realised that the art and house would be of that quality so near to where we live. After spending the best part of 5 hours we headed for home after a most enjoyable day.
Kevin Barter