PATCHWORKS
photo © Julia Hedgecoe
Patchworks
Lucy Boston was always a competent needlewoman. On owning The Manor she bought two patchwork quilts from Muriel Rose’s Little Gallery which she used as curtains. With constant use they needed mending. It was the mending of these that inspired her to make patchworks. During the winter, as well as writing, Lucy Boston designed and sewed many exquisite patchworks most of which are shown on the tour.
Rarely is such an important collection seen in the house in which they were made. The Patchwork of the Crosses is now one of the top 10 best known patchworks worldwide.
Twenty stitches to the inch, it looks as if she was helped by the Tailor of Gloucester’s mouse.
Lucy’s and her friend Elisabeth Vellacott’s paintings and drawings hang in the house as well as Lucy’s son, Peter’s originals of some of the illustrations.
Come and be inspired
Lucy Boston
Lucy was born in Southport Lancashire on 10 December 1892; the fifth of six children. She was sent to a school in the south to get rid of her Lancashire accent. Her brothers at Cambridge were adamant that they didn’t want a sister at the same university so she went to Somerville College, Oxford which she left at the outbreak of the First World War. She trained to be a nurse and was sent to a military hospital in France.
She married Harold Boston just before the end of the war but that marriage failed in 1935 so she took herself off to Europe. She returned when it looked as if war was going to break out, and bought The Manor in 1939.
2024
The Manor was shortlisted by Historic Houses for their 2024 Collections Award, in association with Dreweatts.
They say:
“We have created this award, in partnership with Dreweatts, the fine-art auction house, to honour the owners, curators, researchers, and conservators who preserve, augment, restore, and interpret these beautiful and significant objects. We’re not looking to crown ‘the best’ collection. We’re looking for collections —of all shapes, sizes, and types — that tell interesting contemporary stories about how historic houses are recognising new challenges, responding to changing audiences and interests, or reimagining the composition or presentation of their contents”.
The Award winner, announced in November 2024, was Grimsthorpe Castle, but The Manor received a special mention when the Award was presented. For more details click here.
Or view Viscountess Hinchingbrooke’s vist to The Manor on Instagram.
Gallery
