Buscot Park and the Faringdon Collection

July 10, 2024

Buscot Park was built in an austere neoclassical style between 1780 and 1783 for Edward Loveden Loveden. The house is constructed of local stone and materials with Portland stone adornments. The roof is of Westmorland slate. The mansion’s interior has been considerably altered and restored since its completion.   The Lord and Lady of Faringdon’s family have lived here since 1887 and still look after the property on behalf of The National Trust, who came to own it in 1955.

The most spectacular of the interiors is the Legend of Briar Rose. The Legend of Briar Rose is the title of a series of paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones which were completed between 1885 and 1890. The four original paintings – The Briar Wood, The Council Chamber, The Garden Court, and The Rose Bower along with an additional ten adjoining panels,  are assembled in one room of Bucot Park.

The Briar Wood depicts the discovery of the sleeping soldiers by a Knight. In their slumber they have become completed entwined by the barbed thorns of the Briar rose.

Under The Briar Wood, the inscription reads:

“The fateful slumber floats and flows
About the tangle of the rose;
But lo! the fated hand and heart
To rend the slumberous curse apart!

The council Chamber shows the scene in the Council chamber. The members of the council sleep, as does the King who is slumped on his throne. Under the draped curtains and through the window, further soldiers can be seen sleeping.

Under The Council Chamber, the inscription reads:

“The threat of war, the hope of peace,
The Kingdoms peril and increase
Sleep on, and bide the latter day
When Fate shall take her chain away.

 

The Garden Court shows the weavers having fallen asleep at their loom. The walls of the castle form the backdrop to the painting as do arches of roses.

Under The Garden Court, the inscription reads:

“The maiden pleasance of the land
Knoweth no stir of voice or hand,
No cup the sleeping waters fill,
The restless shuttle lieth still.”

The Rose Bower shows the sleeping beauty lying on her bed surrounded by her slumbering attendants. The rose is seen encircling the drapery in the background

Under The Rose Bower, the inscription reads:

Here lies the hoarded love, the key
To all the treasure that shall be;
Come fated hand the gift to take
And smite this sleeping world awake.”

Other items I found interesting

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The Garden

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