My England: Derek Purnell
Director of Strawberry Hill House Derek Purnell shares his impressions . . .
IJOINED the team at Strawberry Hill House last summer – in lockdown, so an odd time to start in a new role. It’s somewhere that once you visit you don’t forget. Everyone who’s responsible for a historic home would say theirs is unique, but Strawberry Hill is unique. I’ve not come across anywhere like it in terms of its backstory, its atmosphere, its place in history and its importance in terms of architectural history. It’s also on a scale that’s not overwhelming so there’s an intimacy about it, too.
I think Horace Walpole [the son of our first PM, see page 22] who built Strawberry Hill House was a complex personality: intelligent, impatient and sharp-tongued. Above all, he was a huge visionary. Arguably, the house is the first example of domestic
Gothic architecture in the country. Walpole also wrote the first Gothic novel, as well as what is recognised as the first art history book. Even the planting in the garden was a forerunner of landscaping. In so many aspects of his life he was ahead of the curve.
My favourite quote of his has to be: “Imagination was given to man to compensate him on what he is not – a sense of humour to console him for what he is” – it sums up his wit and ability to articulate thought.
There’s always a difficulty with looking after old buildings in deciding whether you want to preserve it as a time capsule or make it relevant to contemporary visitors. Strawberry Hill House holds so many stories that remain relevant and engaging – there’s an endless supply which is absolutely unbelievable.
I’ve never seen the Flower Festival here. It couldn’t happen last year, so I’m looking forward to it as much as everybody else. There are lots of highlights in the autumn as the house lends itself to all things gothic and Halloween. We have candlelit tours, and this year a fishtub from Walpole’s original collection is making a visit. Walpole’s cat is said to have drowned inside it, inspiring Thomas Gray’s Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes.
The Community Garden programme is a lifeline, with the Wellbeing Garden offering a safe space for people to meet others and
feel connected with a shared purpose. It’s therapeutic and important. The way the house and all the gardens are run is dependent on our fantastic team of volunteers.
It was amazing when the Catherine de Medici painting arrived .It’san incredible work of art and looks brilliant in the gallery. We know Walpole was one of her admirers – she was a great patron of the arts, which she used to assert her power. The Gallery is very cleverly designed. You enter through a low corridor into a room on a different scale for the big reveal. It’s a trick architects still use today. Strawberry Hill House was hugely significant to the Gothic Revival movement. The house influenced everything from architecture, to furniture, to wallpaper, with the designs referencing medieval buildings.
I was born and grew up in Bristol, a great city. I was always curious about history, and it’s a place with an extraordinary past. I was very fortunate at school – I had a great English teacher and wonderful art teacher who gave me a window on to those worlds.
Not many people know that I was a professional ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet. I joined the Royal Ballet School at 16, graduated into the company, and toured nationally and internationally for 12 years. I then retrained at City University in arts administration. I’ve remained as one of the Royal Ballet’s governors, too, so dancing is still part of my life.
There are so many myths about what ballet dancers eat. They’re just like any other athlete ensuring they’ve adequate fuel to do what they need to do and look after their bodies, which are their livelihood. You have to accept when you stop dancing that you’re never ever going to retain the same level of fitness. You just try and avoid going downhill too fast!
Whether you’re in performing arts or museums and galleries, there are lots of the same issues. Attracting audiences, education and learning, marketing and money. Some things are easier; I said to some colleagues when I made the move into museums, “The art never answers back.” You move a painting, you move a painting – it doesn’t argue with you!
I’ve got no intention of leaving but I like to think my legacy would be to leave Strawberry Hill House still with all its artistic and creative vibrancy, and, of course, financially secure. It’s one of our key ambitions to retain and nurture that creative and imaginative energy. Oh, and it’d be important to leave it still white!
I’d rather be respected than liked. Hopefully liked, too! But sometimes you have to make decisions which are perhaps not liked, and that comes with the territory.
The older you get you realise how much you don’t understand. It’s not a bad thing. I think, bizarrely, that’s what keeps you motivated – the opportunity to continue to learn so you don’t become complacent.
You’d be a brave person to say, “I’ve cracked this!” – there’s always a new way of thinking about something.
Strawberry Hill House will host its third flower festival from 8-10 Oct, with stunning displays of native flowers and foliage from some of Britain’s leading flower designers. Book tickets at strawberryhillhouse.org.uk.