Houghton Hall 2; Grounds and Exhibitions

After visiting the Hall, we explore the parkland around it; this is known for its iconic white fallow deer and the grounds which feature the local church and a water tower with the appearance of an architectural folly - it was constructed by Sir Robert Walpole and restored in 1982 (it is now a Grade I listed building).  Closer to the Hall, the Stables contain the world's largest private collection of model soldiers in the Model Soldier Museum located in one of the stable buildings.

There is a large Sculpture Park in the grounds around the Hall, which contains an impressive permanent collection of contemporary sculptures.  The Hall often has exhibitions, and 2024 has major solo exhibitions by:

1)  Dame Magdalene Odundo; her main feature is a glass installation called "Metamorphosis and Transformation," a tribute to ancient Egyptian artefacts and narratives of migration, and

2) Antony Gormley; this features 100 life-size sculptures distributed across the 300 acres of the park.  They are cast-iron sculptures, each weighing 620kg and standing at an average of 191cm, and installed at the same datum level to create a single horizontal plane across the landscape.  Thus, some works are buried, allowing only a part of the head to be visible, while others are buried to the chest or knees according to the topography; only occasionally do they stand on the existing surface and some of the works are placed on concrete columns that vary from a few centimetres high to rising four meters off the ground.

We see as many things as we reasonably can; it has been a truly excellent day out!Read more