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THE FOOTSTEPS SERIES
In These Signs Conquer
Revealing the secret signs an Age has obscured
by Ellis Taylor
Visionary artist and writer, Neil Hague:
"At last a book that sheds light on the esoteric meanings, signs and intent behind the forces that all too often, influence our world! Ellis Taylor has to be one of the most unique writers, philosophers and creative thinkers this side of the paradigm shift." more
INTRODUCTION TO ARTICLES Please read before proceeding
Pokin' 'round Cliveden
Part 3
Astor had purchased the Borghese Ballustrade around 1892 and through some nifty footwork (and one suspects a bit of loose Lira ) managed to persuade the Italian government that the nearly 300 year-old masterpiece was neither a 'Work of Art' nor an Antiquity. William Astor had purchased the ballustrade after the sale of the Villa Borghese in 1892 even though the Italian government had ordered the Borghese family not to remove it. Needless to say the Italian government want it back.In the North Forecourt are 8 elaborately carved Roman sarcophagi dating from AD C100 to C250.
Some of the sarcophagi portray seemingly gruesome scenes which may very well be symbolic of Roman conflicts or victories.
Others include:
'The Triumph of Bacchus' where a lion-skin garbed Heracles leads a procession including two Indian prisoners, one on an elephant and the other on a camel. At the rear is Bacchus riding in his panther-drawn chariot. This sarcophagus came from the Villa Borghese, though via the Morelli collection, Florence. AD c230
The 'sarcophagus with Endymion' shows Luna, Hymenaeus, Endymion, Somnus, Tellus, the four seasons and the chariots of the sun and the setting moon. Also from the Villa Borghese. AD c230
A 'sarcophagus with cupids' is an apparently 'stock' item from the Roman undertaker. AD c100
This one came from the Villa Taverna, Frascati.
The 'Sarcophagus with Theseus' represents scenes from the tale of Theseus and Ariadne. The characters also included are King Minos, the Minotaur and Daedalus. It was discovered in 1883 at the site of ancient Fidenae (now Castel Guibileo). AD c240-250
An 'Oblong fluted sarcophagus' 1 includes Cupid, Psyche, Victory and Griffins. On the reverse armorial shiels flank a Renaissance nobleman which according to the Cliveden guidebook suggests that it was reused, maybe in the fifteenth century. AD c150-200
'Oblong fluted sarcophagus' 2 includes Bacchus, Pan, a panther, a satyr with a wine-skin and a maenad playing a flute. AD c150-200
William Astor brought a vast collection of sculptures to England, much of which is still scattered around the garden and house. Mountains of it went to his next home Hever Castle in Kent, his offices in London, and to various other dens. In 1906 Astor moved to Hever Castle the ancestral home of the Boleyns, (of Ann Boleyn fame) giving Cliveden as a wedding gift to his son, Waldorf and his Virginian daughter-in-law, Nancy (nee Langhorne). In 1916 he was awarded a barony and in 1917 was elevated to Viscount Astor.Waldorf Astor
When the energetic Nancy moved into Cliveden she launched herself immediately into brightening up the sombre interior inherited from her father-in-law. Bernard Shaw commented that a stay with Nancy was like spending a Sunday with a volcano. (She really should have given up those fags.) Cliveden became, once again, a mecca for the political, literary and arts crowd. Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Balfour, Lord Curzon and Churchill came regularly. The comedienne and actress, Joyce Grenfell was a regular guest at Cliveden because she was Nancy Astor's neice. (In 1936 Miss Grenfell came to live in a cottage on the estate and helped in the hospital.) In 1907 the King came to dinner.The staff numbers were increased from the old man's days; now there were 20 in the house, 12 in the stables and 40 or 50 in the gardens. All of the footmen had to be at least 6 foot tall and sported striped red and yellow waistcoats under dark brown tailcoats.Casualties of the First World War came to Cliveden when the Canadian Red Cross built a military hospital over the tennis courts and the bowling alley. During the Second World War the Canadians built a larger hospital on the same site which remained in use until the 1980's.Upon his father's death in 1919, Waldorf became 2nd Viscount Astor, which meant he had to abdicate from the Commons where he was the member for Plymouth.Less than a week after her father-in-law's death Nancy Astor announced that she would be contesting her husband's vacated seat. She won and was the first woman ever to sit in the House. (Was she the first American?) In 1931 the Astors travelled to Russia with George Bernard Shaw. Charlie Chaplin waddled in often. When Joseph Kennedy finished his term as US Ambassador to London Lady Astor persuaded the King to join them in a farewell dinner.During the Second World War, Waldorf Astor was coalition Lord Mayor of London and oversaw the controversial redevelopement plan after the Blitz.The Astor's son, Michael said that during the 30's Cliveden was like a club attached to the Red Cross Hospital with cricket matches, estate dances and parties, it was like living in a hotel.This club was looked at askew in the late 1930's. Several newspaper articles called the 'Cliveden Set' an intellectual centre for Appeasement against Hitler. The German Ambassador, Ribbentrop was a guest at Cliveden. Neville Chamberlains overtures to the Fuhrer were applauded by the Astors to the point where Nancy Astor went head to head with her friend Churchill during the Munich Crisis of 1938. (Perhaps she was confusing Adolf with their mate Charlie Chaplin - could happen to anyone. Charlie's the one with the bowler hat Nancy. Charlie seems a quiet chap. Adolf shouts a lot.)During the dark days of the Second World War, when it seemed to the world that England would buckle under the terrible onslaught of the Nazi forces, the Astors presented Cliveden to the National Trust with an endowment. (The National Trust is a private company. The leading founder of the National Trust was....Lord Westminster, the person who sold Cliveden to the Astors.) Waldorf Astor died in 1952 and his son William Waldorf became the 3rd Viscount. Nancy Astor died in 1964 - at her daughter's (also Nancy) house at Grimsthorpe in Lincolnshire although the Astor family continued to live at Cliveden until 1966 when the 3rd Viscount died.Five years earlier, in 1961 at Cliveden, the osteopath Stephen Ward introduced the Secretary of State for War John Profumo to a certain Miss Christine Keeler. That Keeler still had an ongoing tryst with a Soviet 'army officer', Captain Ivanov ended Profumo's political career and mortally wounded the Harold McMillan Conservative government.After the 3rd Viscount died in 1966 the house was let to Stanford University of California, apparently as their centre for English educational programmes. Stanford is notoriously associated with mind-control programmes such as MK Ultra. When their lease ended the manor house and grounds underwent substantial remedial work. A company, Cliveden Hotel Ltd became the new tenants of the house, negotiating a 100 year lease. The National Trust remains the owner.
References:
The National Trust
Letter to Lady Mar, October 1727, in Robert Halsband, ed., The Selected Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, London, 1986,p.152.
© Ellis Taylor 2001
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