Sunnycroft was doing a poor job of living up to its name as I arrived this morning, but even in the fine May drizzle the walk up to the house was truly magical.
Despite being just six miles West of Telford, the twisting path lined with towering giant redwood trees felt like stepping into the enchanted forest straight out of a fairytale.
And actually, the history of Sunnycroft turned out to be a true fairytale for the feminist in me – as the house was the way it was thanks to two strong women who owned the house 40 years apart.
The house was predictably built by a man, John George Wackrill, who had also owned the first brewery in Wellington. The brewery survived in the village until 1964 when it was torn down.
But the design of the house as it is today is the handiwork of Mary Slaney who bought Sunnycroft in 1893 after she was widowed for a second time and left to raise two children by herself. She carried out the redesign thanks to considerable sums of money left to her by her husbands.
I’m willing to overlook the fact that she ripped out the only library in the house (true sacrilege) because not only did she put in a huge bedroom for herself, redesigned the servants quarters so they had separate rooms and an indoor toilet, installed a miniature grand staircase lit by a daintily painted skylight, and built a billiards room to keep the men quiet, but she also funded the first horse-drawn ambulance in Wellington. What a babe.
Then when Mary died (and the house passed through the hands of a few more men – because why would women be allowed to inherit a house?) Sunnycroft eventually passed to Joan Lander in 1935.
As well as being a Red Cross nurse in the Second World War, Joan was also an exceptional embroiderer, and was one of just 12 women who worked together to do the gold embroidery on Queen Elizabeth’s coronation robe.
Rather mind-blowingly, electricity wasn’t installed in the house until 1946 – after the Second World War – at which point Joan had the elaborate gas lamps found in each room converted into electric lights.
She lived in the house with her ‘companion’ for most of her life, and although I may be adding 2 and 2 and making 11, I wonder if she was a fellow gay. And if so, it makes me adore the house even more.
It was Joan who gifted Sunnycroft to the National Trust in 1997, and the house was opened to the public in 1999. Sadly she died six weeks shy of her 100th birthday in March this year.
Verdict: Fabulous house thanks to two fabulous women.
A Year of Trust 