The Country House Built On Top Of A 1000-Year-Old Monastery | American Viscountess | Real Royalty

[Music] CERN Abby and Dorset is a historic house with monastic Roots dating back 1,000 years for the past 50 years it's been the home of the fulford Dobson family during my visit I'll hear about the rich history and some Royal visitors the Prince of Wales who's now the king who then that was very funny the vage we had him here plus I'll join Barbara in her studio now tell me just a little bit about this painting here it's oh walked in and I loved [Music] it when I married into the British aristocracy it was the start of a wonderfully exciting Journey but it was also a little daunting I became a VI Countess and for an American girl from a small town outside Chicago that was quite a shock I live with my husband Luke heir to the Earl of Sandwich and our family at maon house in Dorset living in a place like this is a joy but also a challenge and every day we're aware that we're preserving a very special part of Britain's [Music] Heritage mton has opened up an ex extraordinary new world for me and I can't wait to share it with you all so if you love castles and manners and stately homes as much as I do please join this American B Countess as I journey into the British Countryside in search of some of Britain's Finest historic [Music] houses welcome back everybody to the drawing room here at Matton and this time I travel and visit the wonderful CERN Abbey it's the most beautiful historic house it's nestled in the enchanting Village of CERN abbis and CERN abis is here in dors it for the past 50 years or so it's been the family home of Michael and Barbara fulford Dobson and Michael served in the Royal Navy for can you believe this 36 years and Barbara is just a brilliant artist the CERN Abbey is where they raise their three children and really where they have lovingly and respectfully cared for a piece of England's architectural Heritage with might I add monastic Roots dating back to 987 the bonus here though is the family are friends of ours so I was really really excited to see them again treat yourself to the best gift in history this holiday season enjoy unlimited access to award-winning podcasts and thousands of hours of original history documentaries released weekly exclusively on History hit there are topics for all history lovers from Pompei to D-Day sign up via the link in the description for an exclusive discount don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to explore the past like never before with history hit heading to see Jessica and her wonderful [Music] parents quite a knocker hope you heard that I think I did so I gets a bit Stu helloo hello hello hello welcome wonderful finally you're here yeah I'm finally here and what that's impressive yeah no will you yeah like these things they Echo around a bit but it's the handle You' got to be a little careful with can get a bit Dicky like everything everything in these historic [Music] houses once inside I headed into the warmth of the kitchen where Michael and Barbara had a wonderful coffee waiting for [Music] me so come on through okay midf flow with a frothing of the milk now what we got here we go the capit and his Mrs Julie remember hello my favorite couple you are my favorite couple you know that hello Lov you to see thank you for hell about me you you're my favorite woman ever ever ever how brilliant I'm doing some cappuccino would you like that yeah I would love that that is brilliant so I've I you know I've just arrived and do you know I can't believe that I've never been here I've seen you so many times at mattin drinks party all of that but I've never been here so this is a real treat well I'm so pleased and to drive through the [Music] village thank you very very much poor really boring might I add that you're also the best dressed couple I I'll get out the way yes yes you are so you haven't seened the rest yet with our cappuccinos in hand we then settled by the fire in the hall but let's be honest here everybody knows I have an obsession with all things Royal so I couldn't help but ask about the royal visit to CERN Abby over the [Music] years when I walked up The Path there I saw several Royal visits including a prim minister so Winston Churchill has been here the queen mother has been here the Prince of Wales who's now the king who then that was very funny The Village we had him here and there's a picture of him over there right taken here which is lovely and we've also had the wessex's you have the Wes they came for lunch one day why did well now King Charles III come here because I was Lord Lieutenant at the time right and uh he came to S Abus to do something in one of the uh houses here and um he needed to be entertained in between uh venues right and so he came to us sat in the drawing room and pwed his nose when he wanted too well you do make a very good cappuccino so I'm sure he thoroughly enjoyed that yes but also dad um we we were trying to get him to write his Memoirs which he gets a bit shy about but you were from flag left tenant to Lord left tenant so it gets a bit shy thinking oh I can't write but I think think um yeah I always find it very interesting and recently they went uh they were I don't know how one puts it when you're invited to someone's funeral but the Queen's um we were invited to the interment service in Windsor right uh which is obviously quite a unique um thing to be but that arose because um I'm what's called a gentleman aser and the queen has got uh or the king now um 10 people who are four from the Army three from the Navy three from the Royal Air Force and uh they are the catalysts that acts between the Royals and the public right so for example at a Royal Garden party every member of the royal family has one of us with them oh my God so look after them and produ produce people to be introduced and that sort of thing um in the Queen's Lane there are four of us and the others have have just one right um and uh we do all sorts of other things for example I was in charge of all the Bridesmaids and the pages at the York wedding of all which was quite right and then then I suppose and going from one extreme to the other Princess Diana's funeral as well you attended that well that yes I mean because that must have been extraordinary cuz we were all down in the country when that happened but it's right yes my job then was to load the royal family at Buckingham Palace and send them off to Westminster for the funeral of Prince for the funeral right right know that there were extraordinary occasions to be um involved in as you can imagine of course but I I find looking back on it I've served the queen three times first for 36 years in the Navy um I was the day I retired from the Navy I got home here and there was a rather interesting letter in a rather good quality envelope awaiting me and it was from Lord Eary who was the Lord Chamberlin at the time and in it he said if you feel you'd like to do some duties in the Royal household will you come and see me well I was on the next train up to London and I went and saw him and he said you know the idea is that you'll become one of the gentleman ushers so anyway that was that was my second time of serving her um and then of course I served her as Lord liant here in Dorset yes uh so I've I've had a good Innings one way or another you certainly have [Music] it was absolutely fascinating to hear from Michael about his lifetime of service to her majesty the queen and I felt really privileged and honored when he offered to show me some of the medals that he had been awarded now this is my I'm a knight of the order of St John fantastic and that is the the star that goes here and that's the bit that goes around the neck right and why were you presented with this given this well I don't quite I think it was not long after I became Lord of tant um I was invited to become a knight of the order my C which is this is the one that was given to me personally by the Queen by the queen and this is commander of the V of the royal Victorian order order right and to receive that from the queen I mean that is quite extraordinary isn't it it's so beautiful it's absolutely beautiful and then over here here of course I the Royal coat of arms that's the the Lord leftenant stuff right should I just have a little yeah that's a seal and a half isn't it yes it certainly is and e r right there yeah and queen wow that's extraordinary look at there that is Queen Elizabeth is that yes it is yeah and on the other side y yes and then if we take this off oh my goodness oh my goodness this is beautiful absolutely beautiful so this was um the fourth day of August in the 48th year of the Queen's rain is that right that's charge yes by Warren under the Queen's sign manual [Music] beautiful as with so many of the historic homes that I visit around the UK each owner really does make their Mark and there's one room at CERN Abbey which really does speak of Barbara and Michael's life [Music] together wow oh it's so beautiful absolutely beautiful oh my goodness how lovely now now these are all Barbara's pictures including the self-portrait the self-portrait is I mean it is beautiful these are and that's her mother that's her mother and just and the landscape these are fantastic and then o I've just spotted the queen there yes yes now where is this I'm not sure where it was taken it was on a visit somewhere oh it's so nice to come into a home like you know sir Abby and it's yes it's got its you know Roots back to 987 and but yet it's this lived in family home with absolutely with um you know paintings and all the model that goes with it exactly thank you Michael this is just tremendous to see this and beautiful it's it's really you and Barbara in this room together yeah it is yes and that's what's so [Music] wonderful all around the house Barbara's artistic vision is plain to see it's everywhere and her work is stunning but as many artists Barbara is rather self-effacing and a little reticent to speak about her work but she did invite me into her most Sacred Space her studio and there she told me about her childhood during the second world war and how she really transformed the studio into her [Music] Haven so Barbara I've just walked into your studio having just left beautiful you know CERN Abby and with all of its historic of historic elements but then I come in here and I feel that this is your space you've created the space tell me just a little bit about what happened happened when you saw this space what was it like before you converted it and what was your vision in creating what it is today how many dolls have you got a lot no all I remember is that when we came this was completely robbed right across for cards and then the rest was all you know concrete concrete right because basically the top part wasn't there right I mean it was all on the ground really right a shell shell yes and so anyway we sorted it out you sorted but was this a dream for you because a little bit of your background you're an artist and I've walked in here and I see I've seen a lot of your pictures are Italy and I have a love of Italy myself and it clearly you do as well but you are Italian yes I would if I could take this to Italy it would be perfect being a mother of three young girls here was this your way to escape did you feel that you came here and you were able to create an escape cuz I know I'm a mother of four yes and it's hard and do you feel that this studio well no it helped me to go to something different you see and to forget about them yes not that I didn't want to be a good mother of course not but to have space for you and to did you feel also that this gave you the opportunity to create that space of Italy with your parents yes so Barbara now tell me just a little bit about this painting here it's oh walked in and I loved it because do you know what it reminds because you'd never had a thing like it because it reminded me of me a mother of four really with children so tell me about this it's it's a work of art who I was not feeling in a very good form I can tell you that much and the children you know she was whining for food and um here was all the things that I hadn't made money for you know and I Ed it I Ed it I eded all that she hadn't eaten for some time I'd got my thing there and all he could do was say just leave me alone leave me alone it's the child going oh Mommy I haven't had anything to eat look it's it's only 9:00 oh will you just have to wait you see yes that's it your art is magnificent oh my goodness I mean it's a pity you didn't s 10 years ago or something but it is and would you say that this it out of all of your pieces what is for you what is your most special for you I think almost that really because it was it it meant so many children or men or women would be have had that feeling but I have to tell you nobody could have done anything like could when I've started that nothing because I remember my mother saying well just get a piece of paper and do like pie of paper and things and it was quite extraordinary she said I'm not going to help you she said but I'm going to say things that you should try and do she said and then I might sort of thing and if she hadn't done that I would never have touched it never because CU I never thought that I could nobody ever said so your mother encouraged you oh yes to become the artist that you are to well yes well I got sort of that that yeah yes she was having bombs dropping off her over and thing we were were in the middle of it yes incred but yet she's encouraging her daughter you to become well she said if you get something like that it'll be something that you can have for your life and you'll never regret it oh that's what true becauseas that brings tears to my eyes but she was a lovely mother AR we lucky with our lovely Mommy so that's but she's that is lovely yeah but she's dead unfortunate I know I know she's probably in a better place I hope [Music] so it was so special to spend time with Barbara in her Studio family really is at the center of CERN Abbey and during the past 50 years the fulford Dobson family have taken on the preservation of this 1,000-year-old historic house and have made it into the most welcoming and wonderful family home sitting by the fire I was Keen to find out from Michael and Barbara what it's been like living alongside this 1,000-year history I just would like to know a little bit more of the history of course foundations 987 there was probably something here before that but the foundation of the Benedict ABY was in 987 right and then it went on until the dissolution in 1539 so the dissolution happened but the guest house is what has remained is that correct the guest house and the Abbott's porch and the Abbott's porch that's right and this building that we're in yes it's explain to me this building that I'm in right now beautiful yeah well it was the it was the south gate house right it was the main entrance in into the ABY this far place was put here by one of the Abbotts who was Abbott in about 1509 absolutely beautiful well there there is a thought that in the early part of the life of the Abbey that this might have been the Abbott's quarters okay before it expanded right and the extraordinary thing about the Abbey here is that the Abbey building has vanished right most places where there were abies there the remains of an AB uh and there are great works going on at the moment people doing digs and one thing or another to try and find out where the foundations were for the original Abbey building we think it was out in Beaver field out here okay but we don't know are archaeological digs happening now or is that the Hope or it's it's about to happen uh there's a system where they can put soundings into the ground and see where walls were and that's sort of thing um and they've done quite a lot of that around the Abbott's Port that is absolutely brilliant the two of you so you've stumbled upon CERN Abby and I would just like to hear the story now that we we understand obviously the the roots of it the dissolution what is left standing but how did the two of you come arrive here well I can I can I can tell you that we we lived 5 miles away and um I heard that Lord Digby who was the owner of this at that stage uh was selling I had a conversation with him about the The Abbey and anyway he's he agreed that he would sell it to us so uh we bought it uh and that was in 19 50 no s oh oh the conversation though you bought in 1978 79 79 well you're quite right yes 79 but but the conversation you're quite right yes it was we actually bought a house without a roof and just before we signed the contract to buy it the North roof fell off oh my goodness edgie Digby rang me up and said what Builders are you going to use and I said well do I need any Builders he said well the roof has just fallen off what was it about CERN Abby that you that Drew you to not just this beautiful home but knowing that there would be a lot of work that would be involved in it yes I think it's because I like the house in particular um we quite like living in a biggish house rather than a small one and uh I think that when it came on the market it seemed too good an opportunity to miss yes and so we went for it um accepting that of course there would be a lot of work involved you know House of this age uh you expect problems as I'm sure you get it per but we quite like doing it but you took on this projects the two of you together oh we've always loved things like that have you yeah yes I think we enjoyed doing it you can't just do something that everybody else does you've got to get out and you know make a thing know she loves a challenge and love a challenge and do you feel you know I think for me obviously coming from mton where it is a constant project I think projects are in one aspect very very healthy because they keep the mind going they keep you busy yes and did you did you feel that but was there ever a time in you know the these sort of uh 50 years that you've been here that you felt oh gosh what have I done why did I take on such a labor of love or has the short answer to that is not at all at any stage and I would say never amazing yeah it's incredible we love the house that was the thing that we really were together weren we yeah Barbara I would love to just hear from you you know coming in here as a young mother but also an artist I look around all of these walls here and I know many of this and I know throughout dotted around the house this is you know these are your pictures this is your art I'm going to speak for my mother because I know she gets quite shy so Mom do you want me to to tell a little bit cuz I know you'll be like cuz she's so self- effacing a lot of her Interiors I suddenly realize as you've just said the rooms you're sitting in here because she didn't arrive and had a whole collection that you can't move like a museum she arrived with walls that were empty right fascinating your your your mother's family house was had a direct hit in during the war so a lot of their possessions were either blown up or you're just going down a different line so Mom was a big collector the two of them together and so these rooms are a bit like her paintings and I've never fully appreciated that when I go and I think that the atmosphere when you open the curtains every detail you're looking at is being put in by my mother right and so they loved it together but their combination dad's loved all the restoration but mom loves all her team that come and work here and your what some of your happiest days are out with Terry all the different people who are helping realizing your vision because this has been lots of visions that she's you know with two people you don't want everybody to be doing the same thing so it's much better for one do yes that's exactly right I I I I absolutely understand that well here we are 56 years of marriage that you're witnessing here TCH still going strong still going strong still going strong and what a beautiful home that you've created and raised your family in and um but continue to do the work I mean what's extraordinary is arriving here and seeing Jessica and you know you say well so we've got Works going on here I mean it reminds me of matin you're never alone it's never very quiet and these are Craftsmen you know you know this is painstakingly time consuming to make sure that you are preserving this part of England's Heritage and doing it the right way and and to make sure that Generations can then enjoy it um further on yeah know it's quite something seeing it as you say people go oh just slam a little window in there but it's like no how it's all done with grade one listed is everything has to be as it was pres which again does keep the craft alive do yes it does it keeps the craft alive but I'm conscious the fact that we're really just custodians absolutely we are that that's our our role [Music] yes over the past few years Jessica has been spending more time at CERN Abby walking in the garden she talked to me about the huge responsibility she feels for the future fascinating of course seeing your parents as I always say they are my favorite couple um apart from my in-laws okay yes of cool of cool but you know being here now and seeing all the work that's gone into preserving you know this beautiful historic house do you feel that you also have this responsibility of taking on the Reigns of course you know if and when that happens and how does that feel because I know going into mat Bron it's been quite daunting for me because it's it's a lovely home but it's also it's a big project yeah constantly yes yes it is I I found that um covid for me was was the time that you know I was I was away doing my own thing and again the difference as a modern woman now when we have other things that we're doing there's that element of Suddenly at a time in life which Co brought of oh there is a responsibility here that I could either welcome or just say after this will'll let it go right and I've got two sisters I'm the middle one bit of the Loose Cannon I call myself I'm middle too there we go so I I feel um I've always loved and appreciated living because my parents made us appreciate where we were living it was never taken for granted and we always worked hard with it we were sent out to do the gardening I was the best at the gardening even though the others but I what was interesting with Co is I suddenly realized actually I did have the gardening in me and my mother a lot of women uh are very precious I remember a friend of mine whose mother every year won every show for her carnations her pies and no one would have been able to do anything in that Garden whereas my mother who's always been an amazing cook and amazing I thought Garden she said darling I don't like cooking and I don't really like gardening so she said I'm delighted if you want to do both and so for me it was suddenly realizing that with the clock in life turning a dial that I was now alongside my parents and thinking yes I feel I can hopefully see my mother juggle what she could as a woman I thought well perhaps I can juggle still my life and this certainly for now I'll touch with their going strong but I'm helping with a lot of the projects that they don't want to worry about right and I'm enjoying that and they're letting me embrace that and so with the gardens we're going along and see ter in a minute with Co there was a big wall just over here that we were always my parents like let's just let sleeping dogs lie you know Ivy my M's like if you pull that the whole lot will come down that's more more I say build but dollar signs flying up but it was a time when Dad said do you think we tackle this wall now and um because there was time we and then and also you realiz with Terry a lot of these people with these crafts and skills to do it they are not going to be around for so I'm like we got to make the most of it so I'll show you that you know we had it was like a carpet and my hands no one told me how brutal gardening can be I mean I woke up like oh my God every morning during Co because and I someone said well perhaps use a hammer next time but you know you live and learn yeah yeah yeah and so we started that but since then I have been taking on more and more and I do relish the idea of trying to see how for the Next Generation we can preserve the Tranquility of the place and the authenticity yes but it's that balance some people go very very commercial you have to because we got to keep the tiles on the roof but there are ways of trying to handle it so it's not ruining here people have to walk in and they mom even leaves notes saying this bench is waiting for you and you but just so people feel no one's there but they've just stumbled across somewhere yes yes it's a challenge I feel I'd love to take on but we just have to see what we never know yes exactly but I'm up for it but you're up for it that's brilliant and I feel balancing that you know why not women can balance a fair bit yeah oh my gosh we're the we we're the best Balancing Act yeah my mother's been a good example of it so I thought well let's try let's go and see Terry now okay [Music] great so this is our Terry Julie hi Terry so nice to meet you I I actually call him Sater of calot because he's like a n Shining Armor since my parents came here he's been mending the walls which in these places as you know go on forever and just as yeah and when you finish you're back where you started which Terry sort of is it's like doing painting the forth Bridge yeah right exactly so now What's Happening Here Terry what are you doing I'm going to have to try and repace this gate now because this door hinges have broke off on the bottom and that one's come loose so I'm going to have to try and re them back in somewhere okay oh my goodness probably with lead and with the good old stuff yeah good old stuff the good old stuff cuz we like to cling on to the doors my parents love the doors and even though ter like that could be a new bit we like we just love seeing the see you had to reinforce it they've been reinforced over the years and there comes a point where it's it's the old smearing the old and the new isn't it now talking of which we've got our brand new Co wall as I call it is it really called the co wall because this was completely covered in Ivy wasn't it Terry yeah there was a bulge here that looked a bit ominous and we my parents were like oh dear but it's a rather extraordinary wall can we just because it's it's to me it's built differently than sort of the traditional walls that I see dotted all around England yeah this is this is a traditional Stone and Flint Waring it's one of those things that when you look at the the actual Main who can see that the fashion is using the local Stone which is literally everywhere yes cuz when this was an archway a Saxon Archway was this wall here when the're leading up it makes you think why would it not be why would it not be there used to be an archway a Gateway or something just here yeah yeah because you the M stones are still in there yes ah you see I joined down the wall there yes I see that join that P wall was built before this one was I see okay yes so then this was an addition this was an addition to the yeah as you it is quite a long wall and if you imagine when we were pulling the ivy off my parents were like we've left this for a while because we feel the whole lock come down right but it was actually surprisingly good condition roses considering apart from the top what two foot or more rest of the war was not now this is and now what I'm seeing here is this what you were pulling out during Co is this the remnants of yeah yeah and I tell you I couldn't move my hands I didn't realize removing Ivy would be so I'm just helping you a little bit more than J thank you any time look at this so I've got a war on Ivy not that we like Wars but if I see ivy on a wall I I say to Terry I'm doing it for you I will this was was it everywhere you couldn't even see the wall no no so it's literally had a complete and now you see the beauty of it when you step back CU Terry working with Flint they're not even like bricks you you have to use the Artistry to make them all fit together no one is the same they're like a snowflake imagent ter aren't they every Flint's it's fantastic will the ivy come back not on my watch it will do if it's neglected Terry I found it interesting when you said to me I can tell when one man takes over from another you can it's quite something isn't it and how can you tell that I don't know just Instinct I suppose um you can generally tell right by the mixture of the mck by the way the stones are laid just it's not I don't know yes no I get it it's those small details which you don't think about with a wall but in restoring you're like well the other person was a bit tighter on that and now this one's a bit looser local side I me exact it's just just a kind of I don't know Instinct Instinct yeah brilliant and how long have you been here 40 odd years uh no I don't think it's 40 about 35 years I think 35 years years oh my goodness and do you love it good question you do you and Mom it's just m they keep there they love it they do a lot of he helps with the the restoring visions that she has and it's yeah they do a lot of great [Music] stuff CERN Abby is the most magical place and it was so special for me to see Michael Barbara and Jessica [Music] [Music] again maon House in West Dorset has been the ancestral seat of the Earls of Sandwich since the 1950s when the montigue family moved here from heningburg house in Cambridge Shire this part of Dorset has always held a very special place in the family's history so I head to the archives to trace the origins of the monteu and explore our ties to this beautiful part of Britain well here I am again looking through the archives but I've brought in a special guest you my husband because I'm hoping you can help me with something it's you know your family is just it's like this journey of Discovery every time I head into the meate room or open up a letter or find a book I have more and more questions and so today I'm hoping you can help me I found this book that was made for your uh great-grandfather George montue the ninth Earl of Sandwich by his sister and it's fantastic these ancestral tablets I mean it's beautiful it's a work of art have you seen these before I have never seen this before and and um until you until you've shown me and what seems extraordinary about it is the time that Olga who was the sister of my great grand father spent putting it together because it doesn't just Trace our family tree it has all the related branches of other families and and it shows the kind of interconnectedness and it does it in 3D because you've got these little Windows here where you can see through and have people in multiple multiple pages so that so that you're understanding the connection you're understanding the other family trees because everybody wants to show off the fact that they're connected with all these other aristocratic families you can see that we've got the hardwicks ears of Hardwick we've got the Duke of Bolton on another page so you know all these sort of shields here don't you well I know some of them um but what's so fascinating about what you've uncovered here is the lineage going back beyond the first Earl of Sandwich the Earls of Sandwich began as we know in the 1600s exactly but obviously the Monte family goes back much further than that in fact we go back all the way to William the Conqueror and if you trace back what we can see on this page yes you can see we've got Sydney then we've got Edwards Thomas Richard William all these monteu there generations of monu going all the way back yes um to the time of of Henry III and you've got William Mont cute yes so I can see where the name changes so I see montue montue montue and then there's a it starts to become mon cute what you got to remember is that in those days spelling was there was lot of variation a lot of fluidity right monq probably came from mon cute and vice versa sometimes there was an e on the end sometimes there wasn't but what's interesting about this is that we get back to William mute now he I believe was the grandson of somebody called Drogo de monu and Drogo de monu was a French nobleman who came over with William the Conqueror right from Normandy and there is a place in Normandy called monteu Lea which which means monteu of the woods right and Mont u in French Mo Hill yes Mountain U sharp sharp Hill so Drogo um de monu came over but the story gets really complicated because he came over with William the Conqueror in give me a year in 1066 thank you and and as part of the Norman Conquest um William the Conqueror was William Duke of Normandy yes and he was best friends with Robert who was the count of either monten or moritan again a name that was spelled in different ways and that chap Robert was given the town the area around what is now montacute which is very near to here which is very near to here yes Drogo with given land in Somerset near somewhere now called Shepton montigue oh my which again is still near to here but this other chap Robert eventually gave Drogo de monu mute oh my and a place called St Michael's Hill and St Michael's Hill is also a pointy Hill right so you've got a pointy Hill in France and you got a pointy Hill in Somerset and somewhere between those two Pointy Hills is the origin of the name M but what's Most Fascinating of course is that one of those Pointy Hills is quite close to here and we've never been so you're telling me right now now that I can trace this back that really that is the place in Somerset could be the origin if you like of mulu as we know it today I think it almost certainly is that ancestral tablet was F fascinating but I decided to go a little bit deeper and I went through the entire archives where I found something absolutely extraordinary the family tree all the way up to the fourth Earl of Sandwich in the 18th century the tablet shows the entire mte family tree how we came from mute and how we're related to King Edward the first and also William the Conqueror you may be wondering where the mul lozen is which appear on our coat of arms originate from so I asked my father-in-law the Earl of Sandwich the three diamonds signifies the mountain reflected in water monteu the sharp Mountain the Norman French word and the Eagles come from the monma much earlier connection it's in the Middle Ages and the Cornet above and the Cornet above seeing that archives and of course speaking to Luke and my father-in-law has put me in the mind to go in search of the site of the Norman castle of montic [Music] cute I'm rather excited because I am here in mute and right up there is what I've heard the site of the original Castle so fingers crossed but you can see it's quite steep I've got my Wellies on I'm kid it out but what is also astonishing as I look around me is just to sort of here I'm I'm walking on the land that was once owned and then of course walked on by my husband's ancestors nearly 1,000 years ago so come along with me get some Wellies on everybody get your breath switched on that's for sure we've got a hike [Music] breathing breathing breathing I'm loving these two trees here and of course course sometimes I wish I could go back in time and become a tree surgeon and be able to tell how old these trees are but probably not thousand years old however probably the path that my husband's ancestors walked now I hope you've been breathing the key is to make your exhale just a tiny bit longer than your inhale it works all right I see a clearing whoa oh my goodness wait till you see this everybody it's magnificent yay everybody we've made it to the top and this was of course the site of the original malt and Bailey Castle which was built right after the Norman conquest and those Normans they were clever they chose this spot to Showcase their political presence but also this is the perfect vantage point right here now standing behind me this Tower was built in the 18th century however over the years the castle decayed and the last thing that was kept standing was the chapel but that decayed as well in the 16th century it was gone so in its place in the 18th century was built this Folly and I can see a door an entrance it's open so I'm going to head on [Music] [Music] up [Music] for me it was so amazing to stand on the site of the original Norman Castle keep and see where the multicue family originated from in the 11th century I cannot believe it but yes the montue name technically is 1,000 years old not far from maon across the fields in this beautiful corner of West Dorset is the estate of hook Court this estate was once owned by the mue family many of you know that we had to leave the family ancestral seat hinching brook house in 1955 and we ended up here in Dorset but why well there is a reason why and all is explained by my [Music] father-in-law well this is very exciting because we are in the newly decorated renovated uh muniment room which is the archive room and I cannot believe it's the same room it was it's completely transformed and it's Wonder it's wonderful and it's comfortable as well so around us we have now uh a lot of the archives of the family and one of the archives that I came across when I was moving things out and then back in is of course this connection that maon now has if you like the multicue family here at maon has had with Dorset and that is because of What's called the Bolton Estates and can you explain that to me a little bit more about how this land I think it was about 5,000 Acres at one point which is adjacent to Matton came into the hands of the monteu yes I mean it was originally the fifth L of sandwich's marriage that brought that hook state in but they didn't have it um for all sorts of reasons Tangles with lawyers and so on and there were two sisters U twin not twins but two two in in who inherited the estate and that's why it took almost 100 years for it to become properly partition and the part that uh was inherited was hook estate was the hook estate and and I've seen all of the uh Cod of arms at henching Brook in the library where it's impaled because you would want to marry somebody of a noble family so the fifth Earl married was it the Duke of Bolton's daughter a noble family Mary paulet yes that's right um and the Duke of Cleveland was the other part of the family and and it was his daughter who was the other AIS and it it really is still too confusing to describe but the important thing is we we didn't get some of it we got hook estate and I think Devon was the area of much of the rest of the property right de and further north into Somerset right so so the fifth Earl we can say in one sense married a Dorset Devon girl is that correct that's right she but she was certainly connected but it was also around Hampshire and basing sto we call it now old basing house yes was became a also was a p at headquarters but that was that was not in the family that went went separately so the fifth Earl and might I is I always like to say this was the fourth Earl's son the fourth Earl who is uh you know probably welln is very well known he marries the Duke of Bolton's daughter Mary pollet and here what I have found is the Bolton estate I found this as I was putting the archives back and this of course describes what was in the Bolton Estates and if I just go to the summary page you can see here there is where Hook is is mentioned and I recognize a couple of these Farms because I think they're still part of maertin estate is that right well it running down the list um obviously Hook is no longer itself part of it or toer right but we have we have retained North Porton and some of Power stock and some of Wither yes yes so I just thought that was um wonderful just to see this and then and to make sense that there is a connection and really a long Association of the montue family down here in Dorset um we go back to 1760s that sort of time the marriage of the fourth fourthe son John the fifth I am planning on visiting hook because the building is still intact it's beautiful and I think that's where when we look at this visitor's book and I found Alberta's name uh must have been her first visit in 1906 one year after she married George but they would stay in that building and that's what I wanted to ask you there are sort of carvings of not only the carvings from Duke of Bolton and perhaps those three swords but are there sandwich carvings as well well they they were brought together in the in the shield I think that was why oh my can I just have a look at yes of course oh well which is which is Alberta's right here so Alberta mue October 2nd to the 15th well that's amazing so that was her first entry that was her first entry yeah so I do feel that Alberta even has a presence here as well you know she was she was coming to Dorset and we can see from this from this book but hook I think was really only a shooting home for them they it was a second home from hinching Brook and they would invite the sort of families who had shotguns and came for maybe only two days and go back again right it it was um important um as a staging post but it was never a senior property for the family I will let you know what I find when I go and visit hook court and I'll be sure to take some photographs for you as well especially if I can find sort of the Bolton and sandwich mue together [Music] yes here in the staircase Hall at Matton right behind me is a gorgeous painting of Alberta Sturgis the 9th counts of sandwich and it was painted by Ambrose McAvoy who was considered the society painter of the early 20th century and every time I walk around the staircase Hall I feel that Alberta's watching over me I recently came across this letter in the archives that honestly I was so excited about and she wrote this while she was at hook court so you can see the letterhead says hook court it's October 12th soon after her marriage to George monu and she wrote it to her my beloved brother Hollister she writes this is such a Heavenly country very hilly High Hedges that almost meet one's head now black with blackberries and such lovely thatched Villages she then continues to write I met yesterday our neighbors at mton court about four miles from here never in all my life have I seen a small Elizabethan home so beautiful she continues all old oak and wood paneling Diamond panes creepers outlining every window clematis lavender and Honeysuckle and when I found this letter I there really aren't any words to describe the emotion that I had knowing that Alberta not only had visited Matt Bon but also said never in all of her life had she seen a more beautiful Elizabethan Manor so there's a part of me that feels we were meant to be here oh my goodness I have arrived at hook court again once owned by the sandwich mue family but also you know I'm walking where Alberta walked this is where she stayed and I now know that uh that she stayed here in 1906 the first time she came here was of course referencing uh the letter that she left us was in October 1906 when she wrote to her brother and saying what a Heavenly country it is now what's interesting what I see um right away is the Duke of Bolton's uh coat of arms right there so it has the um three swords and very very weathered as you can see but definitely you can make them out so that's fascinating to see that and just looking around the building these windows was beautiful and the color of the stone is very similar to matin and this does represent the stone around West Dorset but I am looking for any other carvings that would you know tell me that the sandwich family monteu were here now I do there we go there we go there we I was about to say I do know that the eighth Earl of Sandwich who came here again with King Edward iith he like to show off his power in particular at uh henching Brook there's a lot of his uh markings there and lo and behold we have found one here uh you can see sandwich and of course showing uh there are the five sort of balls uh even though a Coronet for an Earl has eight when it's facing straight on you see five of them and that says uh 18 73 and then with a big S for sandwich so he did I know he did a lot of repairs and Restorations to hook Court I almost feel as if this door uh Alberto would have walked through this door absolutely but it really is beautiful and Heavenly country as Alberta described it I mean if we just walk over here there's this lovely pond here and very much like maon if you like just kind of in the middle of nowhere very remote lots of bird song uh beautiful Heavenly day and you know I do wonder if if I've come across any more letters of Alberta at hook Court which I'm sure I will be interesting to see if she swam in here I mean as many of you know I'm a big cold water swimmer um especially at the pool uh the 18th century pool at Mat bton so I do wonder if Alberta was a swimmer herself but it really is absolutely magical here and I can see why Alberta did enjoy uh coming here and thought it was uh Splendid absolutely Splendid well I think those are the two markings that I was really looking for one of the Duke of Bolton and one of the uh Earl of Sandwich and they that's that that's that marriage and it all sort of happened here I might just do a little walking now because I think Alberta would have done that as [Music] well

Channel: Real Royalty

Views: 15,473

Keywords: real royalty, real royalty channel, british royalty, royalty around the world, royal history

Id: n0k4_vHmtEM

Length: 62min 23sec (3743 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 08 2023