Sarah Finch-Crisp
Explore the abandoned State Rooms and servants’ quarters with former Keeper of Lydiard House and Park, Sarah Finch-Crisp. Drawing on rare photographs and the words and voices of post war occupants, discover the lost world of a mansion in decay.
When Swindon Corporation purchased Lydiard Park in 1943 they acquired a house in a state of decay which even the military had rejected. There was no running water, electricity or heating. The servants’ quarters and outbuildings, from the butler’s pantry to the brew house were relicts of a disappearing world and going up to bed with nothing but a candle to light the way was a terrifying experience for the caretaker’s young daughter.
Sarah’s talk will take a step back in time to a world of decayed grandeur where the 20th century seemed not to have intruded.