Saltram House

Saltram is located just three miles from the city of Plymouth, yet it's location in 500 acres of parkland on the banks of the River Plym gives it a decided countryside air. There was a Tudor mansion on this spot, but the present exquisite mansion is almost entirely a product of the Georgian period.

The house was begun in 1743 by Sir John and Lady Catherine Parker. Their son, also named John, brought in Robert Adam in 1768, and Adam is responsible for the staterooms and the salon. Saltram represnts one of the finest surving works by the influential Adam, and some of his architectural drawings can be seen at the house.

There is extensive ornate plasterwork throughout the house, and a startling amount of original hand-painted Chinese wallpaper has survived.

The house maintains excellent collections of furniture, fine art, and china, as well as a number of portraits by Angelica Kauffman and Joshua Reynolds, a friend of the Parker family which owned the house. Less ostentatious but equally as impressive is the Great Kitchen, with its original 18th century tools and furnishings.

GARDENS

There are formal 18th century gardens surrounding the house, including follies, an orangery, and lovely old trees and flowering shrubs, as well as extensive landscaped parkland. There are enjoyable wooded walks along the river.

In the grounds is the Chapel Art Gallery, a restored 19th century chapel that now hosts regular art exhibitions during the summer months.

Saltram was Norland Park in the film adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.