Davenport House Estate SHROPSHIRE

was surreal watching flames dancing, licking and snapping at wood through a glass of red wine. I had been unwinding by the fireplace in the saloon, just off the grand hall of Davenport House, for over an hour. Subtly lit bulbs illuminated the cautious smiles on faces in portraits encircling my chair in the corner of the room, but it was cold and matt black outside and everything inside this Grade I listed Georgian mansion seemed relieved to be in the warm. The stillness of the night made me ponder if the house and all of its contents were actually underground, the Palladian style residence never actually having hosted any guests at all since its completion for Henry Davenport in 1726. Such thoughts were dispelled only a moment after standing up to explore my surroundings, the gentle creak of the floor boards as I walked and the warmth of the room’s embrace reassuring me many thousands had trodden