The Pleasaunce, Overstrand, Norfolk, England
In 1886, Cyril Flower (1843-1907) and his wife Constance (née de Rothschild) (1843-1931), daughter of Sir Anthony Nathan and Louise de Rothschild, began looking for a country home. Cyril had initially been attracted to the hills around Florence, but his wife Constance favoured a more local environment. The journalist Clement Scott had popularised the Norfolk coast in poems and articles publsihed in 1883 and 1884, which were collected in book form in 1885 as Poppyland, describing the area between Sheringham and Mundersley as a Victorian seaside idyll filled with wildflowers, and it was to this location that the Cyril and Constance were drawn.
The Pleasaunce
In 1888 Cyril and Constance purchased three acres of land with two small villas on it known as ‘The Cottage’ from their friend, the local landowner Lord Suffield, to develop as their country retreat. Whilst the properties were undistiguished, the site was blessed with glorious, uninterrupted views of the sea, and the location, in the coastal village of Overstrand, east of Cromer on the north Norfolk coast was quiet and secluded. Temporary additions and extensions to the property were built to accommodate guests.
In 1892, Cyril Flower was created Lord Battersea, taking his title from the area of London where he (and earlier his father) had developed property. Between 1897-1899, Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) was commissioned to join the two villas together to make one large house which became known as ‘The Pleasaunce’, a name suggested by Lord Morley to Lord and lady Battersea: “A Pleasaunce is a medieval word meaning a garden with open walkways where ladies and gentlemen may take the airs.”
Under Lutyens hand, the villas were absorbed into a Edwardian country mansion. He added a clock tower to the east and covered loggias to enclose a garden terrace to north and south, in yellow battered stucco, reminiscent of German medieval buildings. On the north-east corner there was an octagonal open loggia on the ground floor, with Doric columns supporting a pyramidal roof. Above the entrance was a grand stone rendition of the Flower family coat of arms.
The sprawling house never really achieved a sense of balance or cohesion, possibly due to the interference of Lord Battersea in Lutyens' designs. "I do wish the Battersea house was better and not spoiled by him," confided Lutyens to his wife. "He so murders and alters everything I design whilst it is being built".
The house was occupied from August to October, following the London Season; the Batterseas eschewed the cold Norfolk winter months. Recorded in the Visitors' Book (privately held by the Flower family) are the names of statesmen and royalty, including Queen Alexandra and her sister the Dowager Empress of Russia, Princess Louise, Lord Curzon, and many other Liberal MPs and Peers, authors, artists, philanthropists, and a host of Rothschild relations.
Visitors to the house were initially struck by the simplicity of the design of the interiors, in contrast to Lord Battersea's exotic and colourful taste exhibited in the couple's London home, Surrey House. However, Lord Battersea's collecting mania soon exhibited itself, as he added oriental curtains and a pair of large Venetian gondola lanterns to the main staircase. Lady Battersea's bedroom was rather more restrained, executed in cream and white, set of with a frieze of insprational quotes in gold.
The gardens
According to the accounts of his friends, Lord Battersea "set himself to make the gardens as perfect as an ideal Italian garden ever was..." It was an unforgiving environment in which to create his vision, but Lady Hoare had successfully cultivated exotic cypress and bougainvillea at Cliff House, Cromer, protected by sea buckthorn and wattle fencing.
The gardens were developed at great expense between 1898 and 1930 by Lord and Lady Battersea, with the advice of Lady Hoare's garden staff; although hearsay suggests Gertrude Jekyll worked here, there is no evidence to suggest that she was formally involved in the planting which has been attributed to the Batterseas themselves. Edwin Lutyens provided advice on the architectural elements of the garden scheme, and by 1911, the gardens covered 50 acres.
The gardens lay to the north, west, and south of the house. To the north was a long terrace, terminated on the eastern boundary wall by a covered loggia known as 'The Love Seat'. A low retaining wall with steps led down to an area of informal lawn bounded by trees and shrubs. Incorporated into the boundary wall in the north-west corner of the site, Lutyens designed a flint, brick, and stone two-storey Gazebo with a hipped pantile roof with doorways leading both into the garden and out onto the road, reached through a rock garden.
The main garden to the west was bounded on the west side by a 70 metre long L-shaped covered walk known as 'The Cloister', with twelve bays overlooking the garden enclosure. At the northern end was an open circular loggia with pyramidal tile roof. The return at the southern end housed a bakery and laundry. The house and Cloister enclose a paved terrace originally with a sunken pool lined with blue tiles. Immediately to the west of The Cloister, aligned on the loggia at the northern end, steps led down into a sunken, paved rose garden.
The property in the later twentieth century
Lord and Lady Battersea had no heirs, and in 1936 the property was sold as separate lots. The house, together with a large portion of the garden was purchased in 1937 by the Lancashire and Cheshire Federation Christian Endeavour Holiday Homes Ltd for a fraction of their original cost (owing to the perceived risk of coastal erosion); the remainder of the site was largely developed for housing. The Holiday Home was officially opened on 22 May 1937 by Jean McKellen, granddaughter of Mrs McKellen, who had originally established the first Christian Endeavour Holiday Homes. During the Second World War the property was requisitioned for military use.
Elements of the house and the Park and Garden of The Pleasaunce are Grade II listed. The property remains owned by CE Holiday Centres Ltd, although it has been unsuccessfully offered for sale in recent years.
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