Buon natale!

Visitors to Tatton Park mansion will be greeted with ‘Buon natale!’ this Christmas, as Venice inspires our seasonal theme.

The stunning staterooms of the mansion at Tatton Park in rural Cheshire East will be spectacularly dressed to reflect the extravagance and sophistication of Venice.

Venetian splendour will be brought to the English country home with striking displays inspired by the drama of ‘carnevale.’ Trees dressed with peacock feathers and decorative birds in gilded cages are just some of the spectacular delights of the Christmas decorations (though we won’t give anything else away!).

These dramatic new displays will enhance our usual traditional Christmas decorations. This Christmas, as in previous years, the floristry team will also be undertaking the enormous task of crafting, by hand, the miles of festive garlands and wreathes used to dress the Mansion’s grand staterooms.

Preparing the Christmas Mansion decorations in the cellars

      © Eleanor Gorsuch

The natural foliage for the decorations is taken largely from the parkland and gardens. Throughout November and December the rangers and gardeners work tirelessly to source the very best greenery from specially selected plantations. Western red cedar, variegated holly, ivy, laurel, pine cones and yew are cut, transported in trailers and delivered directly to the cellar doors where the Mansion team work their magic.

This year, however, the focus is very much on the spectacle of Venice.

The Egerton family, the owners of Tatton for 360 years, were keen collectors, bringing many fine treasures from their travels to furnish their Cheshire and London homes. In 1884, Lady Mary Egerton wrote to her daughter Gertrude from Venice: “We are enjoying this delightful place as much as we always do, and finding all sorts of Treasures…The weather here is delicious – fresh and hot: our old gondolier MOMOLO has been engaged till today.”

Amongst the finest paintings in Tatton’s collection are two views of Venice, by the Venetian master, Giovanni Antonio Canale, more commonly known as Canaletto. The pair came into the Tatton collection in the late eighteenth century during the ownership of Samuel Egerton (1711-1780). These stunning paintings, which hang in the Drawing Room at Tatton, inspired this year’s Christmas theme.

In addition to the decorations and displays, visitors will be entertained with a changing live music programme including a harpist, flautist, string quartet, harpsichord, and in addition, musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music. The musical programme is different every day.

Christmas is not only evident in the grand staterooms; the humble servants’ quarters will also be getting into the festive spirit. In the scullery our costumed still room and kitchen maids will be cooking Christmas delicacies. Count on some lively ‘Downton’ style banter with the below-stairs staff.

Visitors can learn how to create beautiful decorations for their own home during free demonstrations in the servants’ quarters. Children will also be able to take part in free Venetian mask-making workshops at the weekends.

The Christmas mansion is open from Wednesday, December 7 to Friday, December 23 from noon to 4pm (last entry 3pm), closed Mondays and Tuesdays between these dates. Find out more and the event and times and prices here.
Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

Christmas is Coming!

There is certainly an air of familiar excitement as we approach Christmas time. The staff and animals are all sensing the arrival of somebody very special and keep looking into the sky for signs of his sleigh and Rudolph’s shiny red nose! Yes that’s right, Father Christmas is here at Home Farm on the 10th/11th 17th/18th and even Christmas Eve! That will be a very busy day and night for him as he will have so many boys and girls to see during the day as well as delivering all those presents at night.

Our hard-working Reindeer Prancer and Dancer are very eager to help him that night and they are by far the most excited about his arrival than anybody. This will be the first year in history that the farm have owned their own Reindeer (apart from when Father Christmas has them on loan) and we think it is going to make our Christmas here all the more magical. Let’s not forget our other stars of the show our donkeys Frosty and Seren (welsh for 'star') who always look forward to their irreplaceable part in our live nativity, and of course the relentless fuss lavished on them by you all!

Lisa, Kip the sheepdog, Elly and Frosty the donkey in the snow last year

As well as our Storyteller who weaves tales of festive magic, we will have a Children’s entertainer to create a fun-filled atmosphere as well as traditional merry go rounds. There will be choirs and brass bands to bring that traditional and warm feel to the event who will play their music around the nativity scene which houses our farmyard friends in their stable. We will also be creating an opportunity for a photo opportunity on Santa’s sleigh which has been lovingly crafted by our dedicated National Trust volunteers. Last but certainly not least Father Christmas will be in his winter wonderland of Christmas trees and twinkling lights waiting for you with his sacks full of presents for all those good girls and boys! His merry hardworking elves will show you the way into his magical grotto – make sure you look out for them!

All in all we are hoping we can offer you a festive and fun filled Christmas here at the farm, so please come and join us for a magical and memorable time. All the staff and animals are looking forward to seeing you! All that is left for us to say is WE HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! From all the staff and animals at Home Farm, EEY-ORE, NEIGH, MOO, OINK, QUACK, CHEEP, BAA!

Lisa Kennedy, Farm Assistant

Winter Work in the Garden

I’ve been at Tatton for the past month. Previous to this I worked at Congleton Park for 21 years –so this is a welcome change for me! Before that, I served an apprenticeship at Stoke on Trent parks. I’m enjoying my time here very much!

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been doing some winter clearance of areas in the garden. This has included taking down an old fence, to make way for a new fence in the area called ‘Stallion Paddock’.

In front of the Orangery we’ve felled an oak (which was probably over 150 years old), but has needed taking down for safety reasons. We’ve also pruned back the Rhododendrons near the Maze. This is a typical winter task when the ground conditions allow– because the ground is frozen, it allows you to do these heavy jobs, without damaging the ground too much.

We’ve also been taking the Christmas festive decorations out of the Mansion, as it closed to the public at the weekend. A bit strange, as we’ve not even got to Christmas Eve yet! The greenery will be composted for use in the following season. We’ve also made some wreathes using garden greenery, which have been on sale in the Garden Shop.

All the garden team wish everyone a very happy and snowy Christmas! We look forward to blogging more in the New Year.

Michael Brown, Gardener