The Castle Hill Attic Sale
Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood are delighted to have received instructions to
auction over 100 surplus items from the attics at Castle Hill (the home of the Earl
and Countess of Arran) following their recent reorganisation. The auction will be
held at our Honiton salerooms on Tuesday, 10th December 2013.
A small selection of the many lots on offer from the attics at Castle Hill in North
Devon, the home of the Earl and Countess of Arran.
The attics at
Castle Hill, Filleigh, Near Barnstaple
have been reorganised following the deaths this year of the Dowager Countess of
Arran and Lady Margaret Fortescue, prompting
The Attic Sale
at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood's
Honiton Saleroom
on Tuesday, 10th December 2013 starting at 10:00am.
The items included in the auction have been in the Castle Hill attics for decades
and, before highlighting them, it is well worth mentioning the lives of two extraordinary
ladies.
The Countess of Arran, who died at the age of 94, was reckoned to be the fastest
woman on water when in 1980 she reached 103mph on Lake Windermere in a rocket-like
craft called Skean Dhu. Her achievement earned her the Segrave Trophy;
the highest accolade in powerboating.
A Chinese porcelain Armorial part dinner service with the arms of Fortescue impaling
Dormer, circa 1723, (HO81/21) that is being offered at our Honiton salerooms on
Tuesday, 10th December 2013 and via the Internet.
Her enthusiasm for speed was matched on dry land when just before the war she was
aboard her husband's supercharged Mercedes car when it achieved 100 mph down Oxford
Street! During the war, she was a driver with the Wrens and subsequently tested
the newly built M1 motorway. When a policeman stopped her for speeding she
replied "Fast? Get in officer and I'll show you what fast is."
A Dagoty Paris porcelain cabinet place (HO81/17), which is being offered as part
of the Castle Hill attic sale and is expected to attract bids of between £500 and
£700.
Lady Margaret Fortescue excelled as a huntswoman and was known as The Last of the
Meltonians on account of her prowess around Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
She was instrumental in modernising the Castle Hill estate after the Second War.
Her knowledge of agriculture and forestry was considerable and she had a deep love
and understanding of Exmoor. She commissioned the rebuilding of Triumphal Arch in
memory of her parents and the construction of the Ebrington Tower in memory of her
brother, who was killed at the battle of El Alamein in 1942.
The sale of over 100 lots includes a
Chinese porcelain Armorial part dinner service
with the arms of Fortescue impaling Dormer, circa 1723, (HO81/21) which is carrying
an estimate of £400-£600. A fine
Dagoty Paris porcelain cabinet plate
painted with a scene from the Italian Campaign of the Napoleonic wars commemorating
the taking of the bridge over the Marezal at Karako (HO81/17), which is estimated
at between £500 and £700.
One of six George III mahogany dining chairs in the Chippendale taste (HO81/95)
that is being offered from Castle Hill on Tuesday, 10th December 2013.
There is also a set of six
George III mahogany dining chairs
in the Chippendale taste (HO81/95) (estimate £800-£1,200), a Victorian silver presentation
whistle from Field Marshal Lord Haig
(HO81/41) (estimate £150-£200) and
three antique
oak and iron studded doors
(HO81/98) (estimate £300-£500).
For further information, please contact
Brian Goodison-Blanks
on (01404) 510000.
A Victorian silver presentation whistle from Field Marshal Lord Haig (HO81/41) -
just one of the pieces of history from the actics at Castle Hill that is being auctioned
in Honiton in December 2013.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Castle Hill
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