Day 4
This morning Pearl and I set out for Clivedon. Pronounced Cleefdon. For more than 300 years Cliveden was home to dukes, earls, viscounts, and for a while a prince. A glittering hub of society, Cliveden hosted exclusive parties and political gatherings, later becoming infamously associated with the Profumo Affair.
When the First World War broke out, Cliveden was a grand country estate well know for its exclusive parties and famous guests, yet within months it was offering a lifeline to Allied troops injured during the fighting. At the beginning of the war, after failing a medical assessment to join the army, Waldorf Astor (later 2nd Viscount Astor) offered part of the Cliveden estate as a hospital to the British Army. They turned down the offer after deciding it would be too difficult to adapt to their needs but, determined to help, he offered the land to the Canadian Red Cross who accepted.
As a result, the Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital was opened to treat injured allied troops of the First World War. In 1915 the hospital could hold up to 110 patients at any one time but by the end of the war this number had risen dramatically to 600. Nancy Astor was often seen helping out in the hospital and it is said that her personality and great vigour worked wonders on the patients. Many ministers and royals also visited the hospital including Winston Churchill in May 1915 and King George V in July 1915
Of the 24,000 troops treated at the hospital, only a relatively small number died. In 1918, the 1st Viscount Astor’s sunken Italian garden was adapted to create a memorial garden for the deceased. A mosaic floor was replaced by turf, in which gravestones were later set and a sculpture was created especially for the garden by Australian sculptor Bertram MacKennal. He was commissioned by Nancy Astor to design and create a symbolic bronze female figure for which it is thought he used Nancy’s features as inspiration for the face. The War Memorial Garden can still be visited today and contains 42 war graves from the First World War, each marked with a stone set in the turf. MacKennal’s statue over looks the graves and below it reads the inscription, ‘They are at peace. God proved them and found them worthy for himself.’ (Source: The National Trust)
Since Pearl and Paul live a seven-minute drive away from Clivedon, they shared with me that they go there frequently to walk the acres, and acres, of woodland pathways. There is a small visitor vehicle that can accommodate four people. Pearl and I rode in it up to the house to take the tour. We learned that Cliveden serves as a hotel and witnessed people of apparent wealth arriving and departing. It was mind-boggling to hear the history of the manor. Spectacular gardens draw tourists by the thousands. Pearl mentioned to the driver that I had strained my tendon, which made it difficult for me to walk. I only make a note of it again, since the driver said he would come and pick us up from the house when we finished the tour and give us a ride around the woodlands and gardens. And he did! What delight to drive through gently sloping hills and dales and see millions of daffodils, blossom trees, and even bluebells starting to bloom.
