Near Lamberhurst in Kent, down in a lower area of the estate, are the romantic ruins of Scotney Castle, surrounded by its moat and gardens of azaleas, kalmia and rhododendrons, dating back to the 14^th century, though inevitably it was much altered and extended over the centuries.  At the top of the hill is the new house, built from 1835 to 1842 by Anthony Salvin for Edward Hussey III, grandson of Edward Hussey who bought the estate in 1778, using sandstone which was quarried from the estate, with the quarry still existing today as a landscaped garden (and also containing the impression of a dinosaur’s footprint which is approximately 100 million years old!). 

Something newer and more suited to modern living was required be Edward Hussey III and so the new Scotney Castle was built in an Tudor revivalist style, with some of the furniture also designed by Salvin, and the old castle was partly dismantled and turned into a picturesque ruin, though some rooms remain inside.  Imagine English Heritage giving permission for this today?

It was in this environment that Christopher Hussey (born in 1899) grew up to become one of the leading architectural historians of the age, along with Sir John Summerson and Dorothy Stoud, also becoming the architectural editor of Country Life and designer of the gardens at Scotney Castle that we see today.   Did this historic environment influence his choice of future career?   

Hussey left the house to the National Trust in 1970, with his widow Betty continuing to live there until her death in 2006.   The joy of visiting the house is the feeling that Christopher and Betty Hussey have just popped out to visit some neighbours and will be back soon.  Their legacy continues with a 19^th century house and gardens which they adapted for 20^th century living, complete with aga, microwave oven, television set and 1960′s red and white polka-dot china in the kitchen (now back in fashion), while Betty’s dresses hang in the wardrobe and the cat’s bed sits in the kitchen.  As you would expect, editions of Country Life lie on tables and desks, alongside magazines on cats.   It was a more civilised era then – there is no computer; no laptop, but rather an old fashioned and spacious desk on which to write.  

This is the National Trust at its best, showing the different stages of the history of Scotney Castle and its gardens, linking it to the Hussey family, in particular Christopher and Betty, so that it still breathes with their spirit, as their lasting legacy.