Arundells

Arundells has its origins as a medieval canonry in the thirteenth century; its first recorded occupant was Henry of Blunston, Archdeacon of Dorset, who was resident from 1291 to 1316. Many other canons lived there up to Leonard Bilson, who was imprisoned in 1571 for practising sorcery and magic.^{[citation needed]} The house was then leased by the Cathedral Chapter to a series of lay tenants, including Sir Richard Mompesson (from 1609) and John Wyndham (1718); the former rebuilt a large part of the property in the classic style of the day.^[1] Wyndham gave the house to his daughter, who married the third son, James Everard Arundel, of the sixth Baron Arundell of Wardour in 1752, resulting in the house acquiring its current name.

Arundells housed Godolphin Girls' School and a boys' boarding school at different times in the 19th century, with Godolphin's, which is still located in Salisbury, moving from Arundells after an outbreak of cholera in the city.

During the Second World War, Arundells was used as a book and wool store by the Red Cross.^[3] It fell into serious disrepair after the war and the Cathedral Chapter, responsible for the Close, considered demolishing it, before the leasehold was purchased for a token amount by Mr and Mrs Robert Hawkings in 1964, and the property was subsequently renovated. In 1985, at the age of 69, the former British Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath, bought Arundells, partly because of its proximity to the Solent, where he sailed. He engaged the renowned interior designer, Derek Frost, whose brief was to modernise the house in a contemporary fashion while paying respect to the Queen Anne original.

Frost designed display cabinets to house Heath's many trophies and awards. He also designed a number of custom pieces of furniture for the house that remain there to this day. It was the first time in his life that Heath had owned a property. (He had been Prime Minister from June 1970 to March 1974, and remained a Member of Parliament until 2001, as the Father of the House at Westminster). In 1993, he added the freehold to the lease, purchasing it from Salisbury Cathedral, when the latter was seeking to raise money for its restoration programme. (Heath was an active supporter of the cathedral's 'Spire Appeal'.)

Following Heath's death in July 2005, his estate was bequeathed to the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, established under his will, with the express purpose of ensuring that the house and its contents could be opened to the public as a place of historic interest.^[4]

The ground-floor rooms at Arundells were opened to the public in 2008 and received about 50,000 visitors in the first six years to 2013 (a figure that has since gone up to around 80,000).^{[citation needed]} In spring 2014, the trustees opened some of the first-floor rooms for the first time, including Heath's study, where he worked at a desk which originally belonged to an earlier Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. The exhibits on the first floor now include political and other memorabilia, such as Heath's ministerial boxes and personal banner from the Order of the Garter. The staircase is decorated by hand-painted Chinese wallpaper depicting classic legends.^[5] Heath's former political secretary, Douglas Hurd, was guest of honour at the formal opening of the study in summer 2014.^[6]

The former Labour cabinet minister, Tony Benn, was – despite his left-wing political views – a close friend of Heath and an early supporter of efforts to ensure the permanent opening of the house, saying "I know the house, I knew Ted ... and visited him there after he retired from politics.”^[7] Subsequently, a number of political figures of all parties – including Geoffrey Howe, David Hunt, Kenneth Clarke, Peter Mandelson, Hilary Benn, Charles Kennedy and Alan Beith, as well as Douglas Hurd – expressed strong public support for the house being permanently open to the public, including the necessary planning permissions for this purpose.

The former Labour Chancellor and Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, who was a lifelong friend of Heath, dating from their time together as students at Balliol College, Oxford, is said to have looked out towards Salisbury Cathedral from the front guest bedroom on the first floor of Arundells and remarked that the view was one of the ten finest in the country, to which Heath replied: "Why, what are the other nine?"^[8]

Arundells is open to the public five days a week from late March to early November each year, being closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. In addition to its public opening days, the property regularly hosts private events, including recitals and seminars.^[9]

The house contains a collection of artefacts reflecting Heath's time in public life, his passion for art, and his achievements in music and sailing. There is a large range of paintings, drawings, prints, European and Oriental ceramics, sailing memorabilia and political mementos, including:^[10]

• An art collection, including paintings by Churchill, Lowry, Sickert and John, and a selection of Japanese woodblock prints (see below);
• An 8th-century Tang dynasty horse, a 16th-century Ming bowl, and a pair of vases from the Qianlong dynasty, given to Heath by Chairman Mao Zedong;
• Heath's Steinway piano and other musical possessions and mementos;
• Heath's yachting memorabilia, including nautical paintings, photographs and models of the five Morning Cloud yachts that Heath raced during his lifetime;^[11]
• Original political cartoons by Giles, Jak, Low, Garland, Vicky, Trog and Cummings, on topics such as Heath's political rivalries, Britain's entry into the European Community in 1973, Conservative divisions over Europe, and his 1990 visit to Iraq, where he negotiated the release of Britons taken hostage as a 'human shield'.

Among the paintings and prints by over 20 artists on display are Yachts at Sea by L. S. Lowry; Between Aix and Arles and The Woods at Mimizan by Sir Winston Churchill, both given to Heath by the artist in the 1950s, one of them unique in being signed 'WSC' twice; a series of scenes by John Piper, including two views of Arundells; three paintings by John Singer Sargent; one each by Augustus John, Walter Sickert and Ken Howard, and a collection of Japanese woodblock prints by Utamaro and Hiroshi Yoshida, including the latter's 'Inland Sea series', six seascapes of the same scene at different times in the day. A painting of Heath's home-town of Broadstairs in Kent by Robert Ponsonby-Staples was given to him by the Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman.^{[citation needed]}