Mottisfont House and Hillier Gardens - October 2022
Situated by the side of the River Test in Hampshire, near Romsey, is Mottisfont House. Originally a priory, founded in 1201, Mottisfont was converted into a house by Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain William Sandys after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s. The building was extensively altered in the 1740s for Sir Richard Mill. The property was let to various wealthy families, but in 1934 it was purchased by Gilbert Russell and his wife, Maud. They rearranged the interior and, as patrons of the arts entertained many artists and writers. Rex Whitler was commissioned to create a series of trompe-l'oeil murals in the drawing room. These imitate gothic plasterwork and are quite amazing and very clever. Standing in the middle of the room you can imagine that the walls have vaulted ceilings, but standing directly under one of the arches and looking up, you can see that in fact, the ceiling is flat as in any other room. The entire room is painted, and even the