Diary – 14 June 2003

One of the most exquisite houses I know lies at the head of a valley in Cranborne Chase in Wiltshire. It is not so much the 18th-century architecture of Ashcombe, though it is the surviving portion of a once-grand country house, but more the position, secluded and yet facing down the long, twisting valley to the south, surrounded by hills as if in a three-sided amphitheatre. It was once the home of Cecil Beaton and the subject of his book, Ashcombe: A l5-Year Lease, first published in l949 and reprinted by Dovecote Press four years ago. On seeing the lilac-brick fa’ade, Beaton wrote, ‘I was almost numbed by my first encounter with the house. It was as if I had been touched on the head by some magic wand.’ He restored the house, which was almost derelict. It enchanted him so much that he never quite got over the termination of the lease, and would return to gaze sadly at it from the long drive that starts on the downs above, only to be chased away by the fierce owner.