Overstrand – Village of Millionaires
If you take a stroll around Overstrand it soon becomes clear this is no ordinary seaside village. The architecture for one is grand, including several properties designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the darling of the Arts and Crafts movement.
In Victorian and Edwardian times Overstrand became THE place to have a holiday, or if you were lucky enough, to have your own holiday home. In the summer months the locals moved out to funny little shacks and huts, so they could cash in on the influx of wealthy folk coming away from the smoggy cities for the summer, making Overstrand one of the most popular places to be. With the coming of the railway to Cromer it made the whole area accessible to thousands of people. In it’s hey day there were no less than 6 millionaires living in the tiny place, giving rise to the name The Village of Millionaires. So I guess having a second home or holiday in North Norfolk is nothing new!
One of my favourite buildings in the village is the enigmatic and imposing Pleasuance, once owned by Lord and Lady Battersea. The large gates are at the bottom of the road in which I live and I pass them every day. I have been slightly obsessed with the house ever since I moved here. One day I decided to be brave and walk in. I felt like an intruder furtively walking up the tree lined driveway, passing an over grown rose garden, a huge pair of Moroccan gates that looked like something from Jurassic Park and getting glimpses of the beautiful grounds beyond. The door way to the house was magnificent with Lord Battersea’s motto above. Flores curat Deus. God Takes Care of The Flowers (Lord Battersea was called Cyril Flowers before he was given his title). Lady Constance Battersea came from the banking dynasty of The Rothschilds but was a philanthropist and devoted her life to good deeds and charitable works. It seems fitting that upon her death the house was sold as a knock down price of £76,000 to a charity.
The Battersea’s were renown for their hospitality and swayed toward the more eclectic sort of guests, artist, writers and poets. Many creative and influential people bought or stayed at properties in the village including Jesse Boot, the founder of Boots the Chemist, Sir Winston Churchill, and Clement Scott the travel writer who penned the term Poppyland. I really could imagine the carriages and old cars drawing up here for weekend house parties. I decided to knock on the door, the house was being used as a holiday centre by The Christian Endeavour Holiday Company but looked pretty quiet on the day I visited. I later learnt that sadly, the Trustees of the charity had decided to sell the house so the property was being wound down in it’s bookings. I was greeted by Charlie Buxton, whose ancestor Thomas Foxwell Buxton was a driving force in the abolition of slavery. He was the manager of the house and had lived there for many years with his wife Veronica. Charlie was charming and agreed I could photograph the house and take look at the archive. He explained that the property had been in business as a Holiday Centre since 1936, and he showed me some wonderful photographs of guests and activities that had taken place over the decades. It is such a shame that the house now has an uncertain future as to its use. There is no doubt that it is a money pit and needs a lot of money spending on it but I felt as if it was holding its breath as to what was going to happen next. So many of these incredible houses are carved up into flats now, I imagine this will be it’s fate. I felt so privileged to see it in its untouched condition.
The house still has many treasures left such as a magnificent pair of Venetian Gondola Lamps, used on the staircase, that were given to Lady Battersea as a gift. The fireplaces with their priceless De Morgan tiles and the beautiful plasterwork ceilings. A portrait of Lady Battersea hangs in the hallway, watching over everything. I gave her a look to say if I had the money I would snap this up and preserve it for everyone.
I was spell bound wandering about on my own, my imagination running wild. What incredible parties had the house seen? Who had stayed in the beautiful bedrooms? What secrets could it tell. The views from Lady Battersea’s suite were stunning, running down the gardens to the sea beyond. The gilded writing running around the chalk white panelling in her bedroom with inspirational and poetic verse was simply enchanting. Everywhere I looked there were reminders of the houses’ fascinating past. The Spanish hand painted tiles in the kitchen were stunning. There were even three old leather fire buckets left hanging at the foot of the Butler’s staircase. The old safe with its bespoke drawers for holding the family’s silver was still intact, minus the silver of course. The butler would have been the only person to have had the key to the safe.
The over grown gardens were even more evocative with glimpses of a a sunken Italian Garden with close bricked pathways, a Italianate Azure blue fountain and most striking, a colonnade running the length of the gardens, again designed by Lutyens for guests to sit in the shade and devour the stunning gardens. All this has the backdrop of the sea beyond. The majority of the gardens were parcelled up onto lots and sold in 1936 following the death of Lady Battersea. Consequently several of the properties in the vicinity have been lucky enough to inherit a magnificent garden to their newly built houses, including The Water Gardens which still has the original boat house and wonderfully planted ponds intact. The village is littered with remnants of its glorious past, including Lord Battersea’s private cricket ground, used today by the successful Overstrand Cricket team. I am lucky enough to have a bright and airy flat overlooking this cricket ground and spend many hours watching the world go by from my sunny spot. Incidentally the flat is in a lovely old building which used to be The Egardine Vegan Boarding House! Something I am currently researching!