Strawberry Hill and Horace Walpole

• Highlights the acclaimed architecture and interior decor of a unique 18th-century home
• A wonderful addition to Scala’s series on key heritage sites, which includes Cardiff Castle, Roman Baths, Leeds Castle and The Palace and Gardens of Monserrate

‘My buildings are paper, like my writings, and both will blow away in ten years after I am dead.’ Horace Walpole died in 1790 yet remarkably Strawberry Hill is still standing over 200 years later. During the latter part of the 18th century, Horace Walpole, son of England’s first Prime Minister, transformed a modest house into his own ‘little Gothic castle,’ creating a tourist attraction, which was as popular in his day as it is in ours. Walpole was a compulsive collector and filled the house with a pioneering collection of antiques and curios. The house and gardens have recently undergone a multimillion-pound restoration project to return Walpole’s Gothic vision to its original splendour.

John Iddon worked for several years at St Mary’s University College where, among other things, he trained the Strawberry Hill guides, wrote the first guidebook and ran an MA in Interpreting Heritage Sites. He now lectures, writes and deals in art.