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For Victorian Britons, George
Bradshaw was a household name.

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At a time when railways were new,

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Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them
to take to the tracks.

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I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to
understand how trains

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transformed Britain, its landscape,
its industries,

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society and leisure time.

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As I crisscross the country
150 years later,

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it helps me to discover the Britain
of today.

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I'm embarking on a new rail journey
which will take me

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in a semi-circular sweep through
the Home Counties, skirting London,

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which, at the time of my
Bradshaw's Guide,

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was the world's greatest city at a
time of extraordinary innovation.

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As we know from our own times,
technological progress goes

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hand in hand with changes in social
behaviour.

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And I'm looking forward to seeing how
customs and manners

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were altered in a newly
mechanised age.

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Following my Bradshaw's Guide,
I'll be travelling from

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the county of Kent,
winding my way through Surrey,

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discovering Victorians
of great talent,

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daredevil pioneers and a royal
residence or two.

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Journey's end will be riverside in
Oxfordshire at Henley-on-Thames.

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Today, my journey begins in the
railway town of Ashford,

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before moving on through the Kentish
Weald to call in at Marden.

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I'll finish this leg in the leafy
town of Sevenoaks.

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I discover the secrets of the
Victorian beauty business...

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Eurgh!

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That is a Princess Alexandra-style
false fringe.

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Real human hair from the 1880s.

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..fine-tune my piano skills...

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Sounding better? That's pretty
impressive,

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considering it's your first attempt!
Got it in one!

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THEY LAUGH

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..and hear of a violent
mob in Sevenoaks.

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1,500, townspeople threatened
that if Mortimer

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was brought out to them,
they would hang him.

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I imagine you Sackvilles have been
fairly cautious about public opinion
ever since? Extremely!

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My first stop will be Ashford,
which Bradshaw's tells me was

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"a quiet, agricultural town in
East Kent until

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"the Southeastern Railway Company
made it

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"the chief station for their
works,

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"since which time the population has
greatly increased.

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"There's a carriage house,
repairing shop,

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"an engine room, factories for wheels
and boilers etc".

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And I might say that today,

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Ashford has the unique claim amongst
British towns of being

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connected by high-speed rail to
London in 34 minutes

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and Paris in well under two hours.

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Ashford is one of just five stations
in the United Kingdom

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to offer both domestic and
international services.

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In 1996, it became Ashford
International,

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with Eurostar trains stopping here en
route to and from the Continent.

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The railway works, described in my
Bradshaw's Guide,

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stood here for around 150 years.

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Now, a new engineering operation is
based here.

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In 2007, the vast Hitachi
maintenance plant was built

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to support a fleet of high-speed
trains which

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run on the Southeastern network.

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It has both old and new railway
lines,

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so these trains have to run on both.

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I'm meeting Nigel King,
the fleet manager.

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Nigel, a most impressive,
spanking-new facility.

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What is it that you have to do here?

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What we do is we maintain
29 high-speed trains

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for our customer, Southeastern.

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It's different levels of maintenance
we do. The smallest is an
overnight check,

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which we do every evening to
ensure the trains are

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fit and available for service, all
the way through to the heavy
overhaul,

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which you see here today,
which is done at a frequency
of 600,000 miles.

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That, for us, in terms of time, is
around three and a half years to
accumulate that mileage.

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What are the vital statistics to
these trains, what speed can they do?

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The maximum speed is 225kph,
which is 140mph.

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One of the complications is that
you have to have two sources

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of electric power for these trains.

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Yep, so when they're on the
high-speed line, which is between
Ashford and London,

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they're on the AC 25,000 volts
and they pick that up from
the overhead line.

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Then when we get Ashford and we go
on to the classic network,

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the older network, we change over to
750-volt DC and the driver

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changes to collecter shoes that
go down and pick up the power.

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And does that make the train much
more complicated to deal with?

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It does make it more complicated.
However,

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we knew that from the outset and
built that into the design.

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So, train over there...

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bogey, wheels, over here... Yeah.

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How'd you get the two to meet?

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Human power.

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No! All of this technology
and we still have to use
human power for this.

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Nigel, if I may say so, you're
lucky that I'm here today.

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Once serviced, each of the 12 bogeys
per train

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is reattached to the carriages.

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Nigel, how many tonnes are
we pushing here?

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These are around 8.5 tonnes,
each bogey.

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OK, well, let's go to it then.

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Eurrrgh!

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That's amazing. It's under way!

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There's a total of 29 trains
in the system,

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and during weekday peak periods

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26 must be available for use,

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making the maintenance schedule a
challenge.

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It's crucial to get the trains back
into service without delay.

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James, hello. Hello, Michael.
Good to see you. And you.

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I understand this train has been
serviced,

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and is now going back into the
network.

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Yes, it's had a 29-day exam,
it's fit to run

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and we'll be taking it out on to
the stabling area.

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The complication of these trains is
that they have to pick up power

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from two places, both from a third
rail and from an overhead wire. Yes.

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So presumably, both those systems
have to be tested before you
go out?

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Yes, we have to make sure that both
the pantographs are working

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correctly, and also the shoe gear
we test before it leaves the shed.

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The pantograph goes up,
and then the shoes go down.

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Can I help with that?

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Basically, if you push
the CTRL button...

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And then you push the
"Pan Up Shoes Down" button

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and that will raise the pantograph.

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That's it.

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Having checked the pantograph, the
train is then positioned so that the

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shoes below it can be deployed to
take power from the third rail.

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Yeah, I can confirm we've got lined
volts and all ready to move

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when you are, over.

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RADIO: All received, James, yes,
you are clear to exit the shed
when ready.

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I imagine we will not be travelling
at 140mph?

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Er, no, no.
Only 3mph out of the shed.

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3mph. What's the fastest you've ever
driven one of these?

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Up to 10mph on certain parts of the
yard, which we're allowed to.

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MICHAEL CHUCKLES

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I feel rather sad about this.
It's a bit like taxiing in a 747,
isn't it?

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All that pent-up power that
we're not using.

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Well, thank you, James.

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I believe that was one of the slowest
train rides I've ever taken, but also
one of the most interesting.

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Lovely, thank you.
Thank you very much.

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As I leave the hi-tech, high-speed
train to make its way

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back into the network,

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I'm struck by how advances in
railways

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have changed the face of Ashford.

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Their arrival in the Victorian era
started a population boom

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and today, the fast journey times
have made it into a commuter town.

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Its transport links to the Continent
have attracted major businesses

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and I'm off to see one of them.

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While in Ashford, I thought I'd brush
up on the history of cosmetics.

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I BLUSH to say that I know very
little about it,

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but I think it has a Victorian
FOUNDATION.

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I'm visiting British make-up
brand Rimmel,

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which was founded in the
19th century.

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It moved to the current site when its
previous factory was demolished

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to make way for the international
railway station.

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Before taking a tour of
the production line,

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I'm meeting make-up historian
Madeleine Marsh to find out

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more about the potions and powders
of Bradshaw's day.

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Madeline, who was wearing make-up in
the middle of the 19th century?

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People wearing cosmetics are maybe
actresses,

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prostitutes and the French.

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If you were an English lady,
you wanted a pale, refined

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and unblemished complexion.

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Soaps, cold creams and powders

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were permissible as long as you used
a tiny bit.

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So you had to look as though you did
nothing to your face,

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but in fact you're putting
all these things on it.

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The language on these is
particularly fascinating.

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This one "used by refined
ladies and perfectly harmless".

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Now what did they mean by that?

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That implies that something
had been harmFUL.

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Yeah, and what had been harmful
was face paints.

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Enamelling, as they called it.

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As used in the 18th century, ladies
died from lead poisoning.

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There was arsenic, there was mercury
included.

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So all these manufacturers
are desperate to say this was safe.

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Now, what we've left out is hair.

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Hair was very important.

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And the less you did to your face,

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the more you wanted to do
to your hair.

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Big hair, huge pompadour hairstyles,
everything had to be frizzed.

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Now think, what would that crimper
have done to your hair?

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Terrible stories of ladies burning
themselves and losing their hair.

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And because of that, we needed this,

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and you would have worn this as
well, Michael, this is bear's
grease.

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You're not serious?
Oh, you would. Everybody wore this.

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It was made from the fat of bears.

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Brown bears were particularly
preferred.

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Later on in the 19th century, they
turned to vegetable oils

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like Rowlands' Macassar Oil,
which might be palm,

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it might be olive oil, and that's
why on chairs and in trains today,

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even so, you get the anti-macassar
on the back of the seat to stop

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a gentlemen's greasy head from
leaving a nasty trail.

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What's in the box?

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Be my guest.

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Eurgh! Mmm!

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What is that?

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Well, what with curling your hair,
dyeing your hair,

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female baldness was quite a problem

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and that is a Princess
Alexandra-style false fringe.

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A fringe? Yes. Real human hair from
the 1880s.

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In this period, an important new name
in the cosmetic industry emerged.

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In 1880, Eugene Rimmel, a perfumer
to the court of Queen Victoria

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invented what's believed to be the
world's first non-toxic mascara.

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So popular was this product that it
made him a household name

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and today the word for "mascara"
in several languages is "Rimmel".

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I'm meeting Mary Brady,

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00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:32,680
the Ashford plant manager, to take
a look at today's operations.

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00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,360
Mary, you have really a vast
facility here.

200
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:39,000
How many products are coming
out of this factory?

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We end up manufacturing about
160 million units a year.

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00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,760
I get the impression that Eugene was
the great innovator.

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00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,200
What was it about the man that made
him a success, do you think?

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He was brilliant. He was a brilliant
marketeer, he was a pioneer.

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He took advantage of some
of the things that were

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going on in the Victorian era.
For example,

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Valentine's Day cards were really
popular, so he started sending

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00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,280
the first Valentine's Day cards
that were scented!

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00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,040
MICHAEL LAUGHS

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It wasn't until the early 20th
century that make-up

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became widely accepted in society.

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Here on the high-speed
production line,

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00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,440
two mascaras are made every second.

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00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,760
I'm sure the Eugene Rimmel would be
impressed that his invention,

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now applied on an industrial scale,
has changed the face of beauty.

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From Ashford International station,

217
00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:44,320
I'm taking a short trip westwards
along the line towards Tonbridge.

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00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,920
My next stop will be Headcorn.

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00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,280
Bradshaw's rather dismissively says
that the village possesses

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"no feature of particular or general
interest beyond the splendid

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"old oak tree in the churchyard".

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But with evening drawing on, there is
a cryptic mention of a hotel.

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I plan to finish my day at the
George, if I can locate it.

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Several miles later and I find myself
in the next town.

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00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,320
Looking for the George Inn
at Headcorn,

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00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,840
mentioned in my Bradshaw's, I've had
to come as far as Cranbrook,

227
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,280
but this could well be the one
mentioned in the guidebook,

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00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,160
because it's old enough.

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00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,360
Queen Elizabeth I stayed here
in 1573.

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Now she, poor lady, was probably
slowly poisoned by

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00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,400
the white face paint that she
applied.

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00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,440
So I'd like to drink her health.

233
00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,880
Not that that will MAKE UP for it.

234
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,840
It's the start of my second day

235
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,480
and at Headcorn, I'm rejoining
the Southeastern network

236
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,440
that serves this beautiful part of
Kent to make another short journey.

237
00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,120
I shall be leaving this
train at Marden.

238
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,480
Before the wireless or television,

239
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,160
music provided entertainment
for many a home.

240
00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,840
And thanks to technological
development

241
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,800
throughout the 19th century,

242
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,920
one instrument in particular

243
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,880
contributed mightily to family
harmony.

244
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,200
PIANO PLAYS A SEDATE MELODY

245
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,000
On the Southeastern main line,

246
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,160
Marden is my alighting point for
Finchcocks Musical Museum.

247
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,040
Housed in a glorious
Georgian mansion,

248
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:04,080
it's an outstanding collection of
over 100 keyboard instruments,

249
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:10,120
with chamber organs, harpsichords, as
well as around 70 pianos.

250
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:16,160
From the original grands to the
more compact squares,

251
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,960
right through to modern uprights.

252
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,000
I want to find out more about this
instrument,

253
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,000
which became ubiquitous in the
Victorian era.

254
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,760
Gary Branch is both pianist
and piano historian.

255
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,640
Gary, a lovely welcome.
What was that piece?

256
00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,960
Well, that was a piece called
The Lake by William Sterndale
Bennett

257
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,560
and it was very typical of the type
of music that would have been

258
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,440
played on square pianos
just like this one.

259
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:49,320
What sorts of families would be able
to afford pianos during the 19th
century?

260
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,560
And did they spread, as it were,
down the social scale?

261
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,040
Absolutely. When you go back to
the 18th century,

262
00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,800
they would have only been affordable
by the wealthiest people in society.

263
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,600
As the Industrial Revolution came
along, mechanisation

264
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:08,480
and changes in industrial skills and
technology made it easier and
cheaper

265
00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,040
to make pianos, so you have more
people who could afford and also you

266
00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,440
were able to make the instruments
much cheaper,

267
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,520
so it became hugely popular.

268
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,120
The piano was sort of the centre of
the home.

269
00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:21,440
It was the home entertainment
system.

270
00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,360
So it was really put upon, often,
young ladies of the house to learn

271
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:29,680
to play the instruments and then
other members of the family
sing along.

272
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,520
This is a very handsome instrument.

273
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,160
Do we know its origin, do we know who
owned it? We do.

274
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,480
And it's interesting story, because
this particular one was

275
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,880
hired by a very, very special person
indeed and that was Queen Victoria.

276
00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,720
Queen Victoria hired this piano?
She did indeed, yes.

277
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,040
On three or four occasions
in the 1860s

278
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,040
and then permanently from
1870 to 1901.

279
00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,920
And she played? She played,
she was a good pianist.

280
00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,800
She was not as good, of course,
as her husband Prince Albert.

281
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,000
He'd had lessons with
Felix Mendelssohn,

282
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,760
Queen Victoria was a wonderful
singer.

283
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,080
So they would sit and play and sing
together to the family.

284
00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,320
So they were doing very much what
people in the rest

285
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,040
of the country were doing in their
own homes

286
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,640
and sort of leading the way, as it
were, in music at that time.

287
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,600
The instrument that Queen Victoria
hired was a square piano

288
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,640
by Broadwood, one of the
pre-eminent makers of the day.

289
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,320
In the late 19th century,

290
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,760
it started to produce a model
designed for the masses.

291
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,440
The upright piano.

292
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:40,040
Compact and cheaper, it suited
smaller houses and wallets.

293
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:44,440
The company still exists today as
John Broadwood and Sons.

294
00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:49,240
And alongside manufacturing, they
conserve and restore pianos.

295
00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,720
Hilary Martin is one of
the restorers.

296
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,440
Hello, Hillary. Hello.
Sorry to disturb you.

297
00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,520
What is this piano
you're working on?

298
00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:03,240
This is a 1870s Broadwood
Cottage upright.

299
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,360
It came in in a very sorry state.

300
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:10,080
Looks like you're pretty much
finished and you're just tuning it up
now, are you? Yes.

301
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,960
This will give you the first note,
C.

302
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,560
We put that C into that fork note

303
00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,240
and then we work out from there the
intervals within the scale

304
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,480
and then work out in octaves going
to the top and going to the bottom.

305
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,480
We've pretty much done this one,
but...

306
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:27,960
PLAYS OUT-OF-TUNE NOTE

307
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,200
There's one note that's not
quite right.

308
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,720
We've put the crank on the right
string... Mm-hm.

309
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,240
So if you care to have a
hold of the...

310
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,520
..the lever there. Yes.

311
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,400
And then play that octave, F to F.

312
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,840
And just see if you can bring up
that note.

313
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:48,880
PLAYS NOTE IN TUNE

314
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,800
Oh! Sounding better?

315
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,200
That's pretty impressive,
considering it's your first attempt!

316
00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,080
Got it in one!
THEY LAUGH

317
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:58,680
Beginner's luck, I think.

318
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,360
Yes, not bad.

319
00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,600
This piano, it's about 145 years
old. Will it last another 145?

320
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,000
Oh, yes, easily.

321
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000
I'm sure the people who made it
would never have guessed that this

322
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,920
was going to last well into
21st century.

323
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,800
The Victorians built to last.
They certainly did.

324
00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,320
I'm heading back to the
station at Marden.

325
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,160
And for the next part of my journey,
I'll remain in the gentle, rural

326
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,560
scenery of the Kentish Weald as I
travel westwards along the tracks.

327
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,560
My next stop will be in what
Bradshaw's calls

328
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,520
"the beautiful village of Sevenoaks,

329
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,760
"which contains Knole Park, the
seat of the Sackvilles.

330
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,160
"The mansion is in the
old English style,

331
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,800
"castellated with square towers,
one of the most splendid

332
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,400
"seats in the kingdom,
and the collection of paintings
is very fine".

333
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,640
I look forward to hearing the family
history from a Sackville.

334
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:18,080
The Southeastern Railway came to
Sevenoaks relatively late, in 1868.

335
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,040
And within just a few years,

336
00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,200
it was already an attractive commuter
town for London,

337
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,560
with access to beautiful green
spaces.

338
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:42,440
Located close to the town centre is
Knole Park, a vast 1,000-acre

339
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,600
medieval deer park, which is also the
setting for the imposing Knole House.

340
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,440
Originally built in the
mid 15th century,

341
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:59,640
since 1604, it's been the seat of the
Sackvilles, an aristocratic family

342
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,400
which over the years has been in and
out of the public eye.

343
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,320
Michael, welcome to Knole.

344
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,120
To find more about this
intriguing family,

345
00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:13,080
I'm meeting the current Baron,
Robert Sackville-West.

346
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,160
It is a stunning house, as my
Bradshaw's had promised me.

347
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,560
How did it come into
the Sackville family?

348
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,360
Well, it began life as a small
manor house. It was then

349
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,920
acquired by the archbishops of
Canterbury, as their sort of

350
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:28,080
personal residence, and then was
confiscated from them

351
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:32,960
by King Henry VIII, who used it as
a royal residence, and then

352
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,160
Thomas Sackville, the first member
of my family to live at Knole,

353
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,240
who was Lord Treasurer - that's
sort of the equivalent of Chancellor
of the Exchequer.

354
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,640
And in those days, if you are
Lord Treasurer,

355
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,960
you could award or sell to
whoever you liked,

356
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,400
royal freeholds, and so he did
decide to sell

357
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,960
a royal freehold to himself at a
reasonable price.

358
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,600
And, well, he got a very nice
property

359
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,920
and I dare say a good bargain too.

360
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,720
What somewhat surprises me is it's
so close to Sevenoaks.

361
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,640
It's not removed at all. That's quite
unusual, isn't it?

362
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:05,280
Well, it is unusual

363
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,360
and it was the temporary closure of
the park in the 19th century

364
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:15,480
that sparked what can only be
described as riots in Sevenoaks
in 1884.

365
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,520
One of my ancestors, Mortimer,

366
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:22,760
decided for his own reasons to close
the park to the public.

367
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:28,160
And 1,500 townspeople
tore down the posts

368
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,320
he'd erected across the
gate, shouted abuse at Mortimer,

369
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,880
broke a few windows and
threatened that

370
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,800
if Mortimer was brought out to them,
they would hang him.

371
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,480
A compromise was reached
within about a year

372
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,480
and it's been open without
interruption ever since.

373
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,680
I imagine you Sackvilles have been
fairly cautious about public
opinion ever since? Extremely!

374
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:49,720
THEY LAUGH

375
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,000
Knole House is enormous.

376
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,760
Built on a magnificent scale.

377
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,960
Its interior reveals one opulent
chamber after another,

378
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,840
housing priceless artworks and
tapestries

379
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,560
collected over the centuries.

380
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:22,080
It's also home to the most complete
set of royal Stuart furniture

381
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,160
in the world, which came from the
royal palaces

382
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,280
of Kensington, Whitehall
and Hampton Court.

383
00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,880
So who was it that succeeded
Mortimer?

384
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,280
Well, he was succeeded by his rather
feckless younger brother,

385
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,760
Lionel Sackville-West, in 1888.

386
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:45,120
But he brought with him to Knole
an encumbrance, really.

387
00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:49,400
And that encumbrance was the fact
that he had five illegitimate
children.

388
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,960
Lionel Sackville-West had a
19-year relationship

389
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,000
with a Spanish dancer known as
"Papita",

390
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,520
which produced the five children.

391
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,560
One of them, Victoria, managed to
inherit the estate by marrying

392
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:09,000
her first cousin, also called Lionel,
who was the heir.

393
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,600
Such a prize didn't go unchallenged.

394
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,920
There was a moment in 1910 where
they were probably the most

395
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,440
notorious family in the country,

396
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,840
because one of the five illegitimate
children brought a claim

397
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:27,360
that he was in fact the legitimate
heir to the title and to Knole.

398
00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,440
The succession case in which they
were embroiled was on the front

399
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,360
pages of newspapers both in America
and in England.

400
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,360
And did he succeed in that?

401
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,080
He didn't succeed and, tragically,
about four years later,

402
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:41,960
he committed suicide.

403
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,280
The best known member of your family
is probably Vita Sackville-West.

404
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:46,880
Now, where did she derive from?

405
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:52,920
She was the daughter of Victoria and
Victoria's first cousin, Lionel,

406
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,600
and she was born and brought up
at Knole

407
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,520
and she absolutely loved her
lonely childhood,

408
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,640
wandering around the house, looking
in drawers, finding things out.

409
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,840
She adored the place.

410
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:10,800
Born in 1892, Vita Sackville-West was
a successful poet and novelist.

411
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,560
She's remembered for her
works of literature

412
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:18,040
and for her same-sex affairs,
notably with Virginia Woolf,

413
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,240
whose famous novel Orlando
celebrates their friendship.

414
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:27,800
On the death of Vita's father in
1928, Knole passed not to her,

415
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:33,320
but to the next male heir, Robert's
great-uncle, Charles Sackville-West.

416
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,640
You're the 14th generation of your
family to live at Knole.

417
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,480
What is it about the place that
captures you?

418
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,840
I think most people, the first thing
that strikes you about Knole

419
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:44,760
is its sheer size.

420
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:49,680
And that you can wander around it
and still make discoveries here.

421
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,000
But the other thing,
from my perspective,

422
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,200
is that it is very unusual for one
house to have been inhabited

423
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,040
continuously, really, for 400 years
by members of one family.

424
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,880
And though at times that sense of
history can be a little oppressive,

425
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,920
at other times, it's wonderful
experience.

426
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,240
Whilst one family has lived
here for hundreds of years,

427
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,720
the 19th century was
a time of change.

428
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,480
Advances in piano-making enabled the
middle-classes to enjoy

429
00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,760
home-made music and the sight of
mothers and daughters playing

430
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,880
and singing together is
a Victorian cliche.

431
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,960
Elsewhere, technological advances
produced non-toxic make-up

432
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,040
and the change was more than
cosmetic.

433
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,680
It transformed what was considered
proper and decent

434
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:49,360
and the New Woman, in her lipstick
and mascara, was unlikely to

435
00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:53,480
believe that her proper place in life
was on the piano stool.

436
00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:58,480
Next time...

437
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,000
TRAIN WHISTLES

438
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,080
..I volunteer at a heritage
railway...

439
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,240
Wah!

440
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:07,120
..and feel the pressure.

441
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:10,800
I discover a 19th-century painter
who, 100 years later,

442
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,240
changed the course of history...

443
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,000
President Obama talks about being
converted to a life

444
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,320
of political activity through a
sermon on Watts's painting of Hope.

445
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,600
..and I have a blast with a
formidable Victorian invention.

446
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,160
Three, two, one...

447
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:29,640
Whoa!