Mythical griffins, stags and eagles grace a playful design for the latest room featured in Lord Montagu’s blog series. See why it evokes memories from his childhood.
The students of Southampton Solent University produced several impressive wallpapers but none more so than the one for this room.
As the en-suite bathroom to the Heraldry Bedroom, the designers didn’t have any difficulty persuading me to continue the heraldic theme but in a more playful way. All the elements are taken from the Montagu coat of arms which was originally granted to my great-grandfather Henry, 1st Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. The eagles come from my Monthermer ancestors, stags from the Scott branch of my family and rampant griffins which are the supporters of the shield. (There is also a pair guarding each side of the shower cubicle!) These mythical animals have the body, tail and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
All of these creatures were re-drawn by student Lola-Mia Gurr and laid out with some delightful little floral decorations, creating an elegant pattern which evokes some of the older wallpapers I remember from my childhood. I was so pleased with the pattern that we have now reproduced it on a range of items in the Beaulieu gift shops.
Portraits on the wall are from my mother’s Drummond family roots: Annabella Queen of Scotland, John Drummond, Duke of Melfort and James Drummond, Earl and Duke of Perth.
An old oak panel with a carving of The Duke of Montagu’s coat of arms has been adapted as a cover for the disused fireplace, but its original purpose is uncertain. The image is back-to-front, suggesting it was either a very large printing block or possibly some kind of mould.
In all the work carried out in the Palace House refurbishment, this is the only room which needed structural alterations to establish a doorway to the en-suite bedroom. The wall through which it passes is not, as we expected, brick or stone, but load-bearing studwork dating from 1860s when the house was remodelled.
Find out more as Lord Montagu tells the story here: https://youtu.be/AL7m4_vLlYw
COMING NEXT: Enter the magical fantasy world of the Water Babies