MADE IN CHELSEA
Ric Glenn has been up since 4am preparing for Australian Country Homes’ visit. Not, as it turns out, ensuring that the reverse stripes of the immaculately mown lawns of the gardens on the 93-acre (38-hectare) Cadogan Estate are in order. Nor that the beds bustling with early spring tulips, daffodils and bluebells are weed-free. Nor even that the latest load of horse manure, fresh from the Buckingham Palace stables, has been appropriately spread. In fact, he has been up since sparrows baking bread, made with a starter that owes its existence to wild yeast captured in the kitchen at his Croydon home. When Ric has visitors, he always serves fresh bread and it turns out we are no exception.
The foundations of the Cadogan Estate of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea were established in 1717 when Charles, the second Baron Cadogan, married Elizabeth Sloane, the daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, who had bought the manor of Chelsea in 1712. The family’s almost 300-year stewardship of the estate is today in the hands of Viscount Chelsea (Edward Cadogan)
