Keeping it in the family – a visit to the Heath House
We were going to have tea at a large country house for our annual August outing and the weather was brilliant! We shared cars for the thirty-five minute drive to the Heath House at Tean where we were greeted by Ben Philips who inherited the property last year and would be showing us around personally. The present house has been his family’s home for six generations and earlier generations lived in the Tean Valley from the late sixteenth century, moving up the social ladder by buying land and investing in the tape industry.

The tour began in the gardens, attractively arranged on different levels and including a sunken parterre, an Edwardian Rock Garden and a delightful Orangery built in 1831, pre-dating the present house. There had been a Georgian Heath House, built about 1720, but when this was inherited by Ben’s great-great-great grandfather in 1834 his wealthy wife wanted it altered. Eventually it was demolished and extravagantly rebuilt in Tudor Gothic style using stone from the local Hollington quarry. While the interior was being finished the family went on a Continental ‘Grand Tour’, purchasing expensive artefacts for the new house. As we toured the stately rooms Ben pointed out these and other treasures and explained the history of his forebears and their connections with famous people while we looked at their portraits. Tea was served in the elegant dining room and some of us were privileged to use the family’s most valuable piece of furniture – a superb William IV circular extending dining table. This was won in a bet by John Capel Philips, Ben’s great-great grandfather who was otherwise renowned for terrorizing his family and roaming the house with a loaded gun!

Judging by the many photographs in its vast archive the house enjoyed an Edwardian heyday under the ownership of Ben’s great grandparents but the upkeep of large houses became increasingly difficult after the First World War and his grandfather bought an engineering business to help the finances. During the Second World War the house was used as a hospital for convalescent soldiers. Afterwards the family returned to it and a few artefacts (including a Canaletto painting) were sold to provide for essential modernisation. Ben’s grandmother lived in the house as a widow for nineteen years and during this time it was used as a film location for “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1988), “They Do it with Mirrors” (1991) and a television serial called “In a Land of Plenty” (2001). The BBC offered the services of their set designers to redecorate and re-carpet parts of the house in lieu of payment and we saw the results on the impressive galleried staircase and some of the lovely bedrooms.

Ben’s father inherited the property in 2002 and began opening it to the public, but eventually fearing he might have to sell it, he applied to take part in the “Country House Rescue” television programme which began in 2008. The Heath House was featured in 2010 and again in “Country House Rescue – Revisited” in 2011, providing some very interesting ‘behind the scenes’ anecdotes! Ben became involved in running the house as a hospitality venue for weddings and other events and took over completely when sadly both his parents died in 2011. He continues to work hard to promote the business and keep the house in the family. We spent a lovely afternoon there and thank Diana for arranging another super outing.
[For more photos taken on the outing, click here]