Smallhythe Place, Tenterden, Kent. Part 1

Smallhythe Place near Tenterden was the home of Dame Ellen Terry, a famous Shakespearean actress during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Situated in the heart of the Weald of Kent, the house was built in the 16th Century, when Smallhythe was a busy port.

Ellen Terry bought Smallhythe Place in 1899, and lived here  until her death in 1928, aged 81.

She was married three times and had two children Edith Craig and Edward Gordon Craig. When Ellen died her daughter founded the Ellen Terry Memorial Museum at Smallhythe Place. The Museum was taken over by The National Trust in 1947.

It is a beautiful House, inside and out with many of Ellen's belongings on show.

A painting of Ellen Terry entitled ' Choosing' painted by her first husband George Frederic Watts

The fireplace in the Terry Room, the frieze above the fire shows Ellen Terry in all the roles she played.

A beautiful work box, with Ivory and Bone sewing implements. I would love something like this!

Some of the many beautiful items on show in the house.

A corner of the Terry Room.

A lovely House :)

Looking out towards the Front Garden.

On the other side of the hall is the Dining Room, which was probably the kitchen when the house was first built.

More amazing items in the display cabinets.

Such a lovely fireplace, the setttle on the right has the date 1715 carved on it.

Ellen Terry loved cats, in front of the fireplace is this lovely mat :)

The next blog will show the upstairs of the building, including some of Ellen's costumes and the Theatre in the garden.

Smallhythe Place, Tenterden, Kent. Part 2

In the last blog I showed you the ground floor of Smallhythe Place, so time to go upstairs.....

The picture above is of Ellen Terry playing Lady MacBeth in 1888. The painting was done by John Singer Sargent in 1889. The dress is very famous as it was made using iridescent beetle shells sewn on to a crochet background. The dress itself is usually on show in Smallhythe Place but sadly it was 'on tour' while we were there.

However the headdress above was on show, and below are some examples of material used in the dress, and some of the beetle shells. 1000 shells were used in the original garment.

These items are under glass, so not easy to photograph, but they do give some idea of how the dress must look.

The photo below shows a Chinese dress alongside a beautiful dress which Ellen Terry wore as Beatrice in @Much ago About Nothing'

The dresses above and below were worn by Ellen Terry in her role as 'Beatrice' in the play 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Note the gorgeous shoes as well the amazing dresses 

I love the fan in this case :)

A Japanese costume and below a close up of the embroidery on the coat (?) at the back.

Viking jewellry :)

Ellen Terry's dressing table

A corner of the bedroom.

The bedroom showing the bed and dressing table.

Another selection of lovely pieces, mainly Oriental pieces.

After a refreshing cup of tea in the tea room we walked through to the theatre which is housed in a barn. 

What a lovely theatre, it is still used for plays etc.

We all had a fantastic time on our visit, and I am sure that if we walked round the house again we would spot lots of things we missed on this visit. 

The National Trust have done a fantastic job preserving this house and contents. I think we will be visiting there again :)