Things get lost in big houses - put away by one generation and forgotten by the next. Just occasionally, a chest in the attics reveals an extraordinary secret treasure which can transform our enjoyment of the history of a country house today. One of the best examples I know is at Paxton House in the Borders.
The house was an early commission from bravura neo-classical architect Robert Adam and his brothers, John and James - James did the exterior, Robert the interior and John handled the business side of things. It is a pillared Palladian house with flanking pavilions and gorgeous rococo plasterwork which has changed little since it was finished in 1763. Its builder was 35 year old Patrick Home, fresh home from the Grand Tour and full of zeal to create a home to show off his souvenirs. He inherited an even bigger house within 5 years and went off there, leaving his cousin Ninian to furnish Paxton with a collection of beautifully proportioned Chippendale furniture. When he left for his new house, he left behind a chest full of clothes which he seems to have packed in a rush and forgotten about. We can't know for sure, of course, all this happened 250 years ago, but we do know quite a lot about the drama of Patrick's life at this time.
Patrick inherited Paxton unexpectedly. He was on his way home from Italy in 1756 (or possibly en route to Prussia to rejoin a girl he was in love with - about which more another time) when his mother was murdered by the butler (have I got your interest?!). The house was hardly finished before he was off to his next house and he never lived here. It is easy to see how a trunk full of grand clothes that were just the job for showing off at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia were not really quite the thing for the Scottish Borders, particularly when he was totally engaged in one building project or another. You don't see Keven McCloud prancing around Grand Designs in a frock coat after all!
So at Paxton today is a complete gentleman's wardrobe from the late 1740s from frock coats and waistcoats to slippers. The clothes are fragile and displayed in rotation but it is a treat to see the clothes worn by the man who built the house; it gives it an immediate personal context. The most unusual treasure discovered in this chest of clothes is a costume worn by Patrick at The Berlin Carousel of 1750. This was a massive pageant organised by Frederick the Great to celebrate victory over Austria, a campaign which earned him the admiration of Napoleon a century later. Frederick the Greast clearly loved a bit of fancy dress, so Patrick's gold and white costume placed him as a Carthaginian knight in the spectacular procession meant to emulate a celebrated pageant staged by Louis XIV of France in 1662. The survival of Patrick's costume and his pageant horse's caparisons is a real historical rarity.
So there is plenty in the story to capture the imagination. Meeting Patrick Home through his clothes and his houses brings us closer to the mid-18th century. Frederick of Prussia is one of the most fascinating of historical European rulers. But most of all, it is fun to hear of a chest of treasures which no one knew existed. Paxton House is not alone is having this experience, here is a list of my top 6 country houses which have discovered hidden treasure troves (in no particular order):
TOP 6 HIDDEN TREASURE TROVES
1. Paxton House, Borders - court clothes worn by Patrick Home in the 1740s in Prussia hidden in a marquetry chest www.paxtonhouse.co.uk;
2. Highclere Castle, Berkshire - Egyptian treasures excavated for the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, finder of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered concealed between two doors in 1987 www.highclerecastle.co.uk;
3. Harewood House, Yorkshire - the Thomas Chippendale state bed found in boxes in the Estate Office and restored in 2000 www.harewood.org;
4. Fursdon House, Devon - 18th & 19th century dresses locked into a forgotten trunk www.fursdon.co.uk;
5. Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire - punched Banbury sheet from Alan Turing's research into the Enigma codes, found scrumpled up in the roof space of Hut 6 as a draught excluder (the only one to survive) www.bletchleypark.org.uk;
6. Arbuthnott House, Kincardineshire - two day dresses abandoned by Catherine Arbuthnott when she eloped with the family tutor, David Lyell, in 1805, rediscovered in the 1980s www.arbuthnott.co.uk.