Rooms of their Own

Fascinating pairing of speakers at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival looking at peoples’ personal rooms.

 
Mark Purcell, who had been librarian for the National Trust, talked about country house libraries looking at the both as rooms but also as collections. He had beautiful illustrations and lots of quirky and interesting stories. He talked about rooms which were public spaces but other which were more private which he described in one case as “the Earl’s shed”!
 
Nina Stratchey then talked about her beautiful book looking at the rooms of Virginia Woolf, Vita Sachville-West and Eddy Sackville-West. Of course this was heaven to a Charleston audience! Although I’ve been to Knole quite often I can’t remember seeing Eddy Sackville-West’s own rooms there and they are so lovely in shades of pink and blue and with a screen by Duncan Grant. She told us how all of the pictures at Monk’s House are described by Virginia in letters and diaries as she acquires them. 
 
The Q&A and discussion at the end was very lively with lots of questions from the Bloomsbury fans.