Former BBC Governor Stella Clarke Former governor of the BBC between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s Stella Clarke explains what it was like as one of the first women on the BBC board. She compares the BBC then and now and shares her reaction the the Savile scandal. Stella's also worked extensively in public housing and was proud to say that when, in the mid 1970s she left public housing there was no housing waiting list at all. If you visit Stella Clarke's historic house near Bristol, you'll get shown around by the owner and even offered a cup of tea. Maurice Fells went along to Gatcombe Court. For decades now, many of our finest stately homes, manors and country houses have opened their doors to visitors. Grand family portraits, plush libraries and gleaming silverware are on display, and guides always seem to have a fund of stories about haunted rooms. However, visitors will be kept well away from the owner's private quarters. That sort of thinking, though, has been turned on its head at one manor house on the southern fringe of Bristol. It may be listed as an ancient monument, but Gatcombe Court doesn't have any guides. Instead, its owner takes visitors around and offers tea and cakes, for this is very much a family home. Stella Clarke has lived here since 1952 when she married her late husband Charles, who became senior partner in the Bristol law firm now known as Osborne Clarke. Charles was born in the house in 1926 and lived away from it for only two years. This was where the couple brought up their five children. "It's so interesting to find out more about the layout of the buildings," she says of her home at Long Ashton, only yards from the A370, the old Bristol to Weston-super-Mare road. This is something of an under- statement for although the present house was built in the Middle Ages, it stands on the site of a Roman settlement. "We are on a Roman site which had a wall around it. It was 15ft wide, wider than Hadrian's Wall and at least that high, if not higher," Mrs Clarke explains. Its foundations are now well buried beneath Gatcombe Court and its gardens, but evidence of Roman occupation can still be found in and around the house. One of the features is a 60ft-deep well discovered outside the kitchen door. The oldest part of the current house dates back to 1254 when John de Gatcombe decided to build a home here. Although parts of his original building still stand, it has been extended several times since then. In the 16th century, the house started to slide down hill and the cracks in the old masonry are still clearly visible, as is the rakish angle of the old walls. In an upstairs room, a large stone fireplace lintel cracked in two as the house moved. A metal rivet used by a workman to repair the lintel in 1525 can still be seen. The house was saved by the addition of a new wing which propped it back up again. Gatcombe Court is full of staircases, one is dated 1683, passages, doors and turnings. Nothing is regular here. The kitchen floor, for example, drops 18 inches from one end to the other. As the Clarkes have lovingly restored their home, they've discovered much of its history and have found windows hidden behind plaster or bookcases. Despite the haphazard arrangement of the house, Stella Clarke takes much pride in showing visitors around. They may be surprised to know that their guide has spent more than 50 years in public life in a variety of roles ranging from district councillor to chairman of Bristol magistrates. Visitors to Gatcombe Court can also enjoy the large gardens full of roses, a yew hedge, believed to be 400 years old, and many old-fashioned flowers. A sycamore tree is thought to be one of the oldest in the country A special addition completed recently is a Roman herb garden. "This is to reflect the Roman presence and other influences of previous occupation" said Mrs Clarke's daughter, Bridget Mackwood, who also lives at Gatcombe. "Many people think that our herbs are British, but they were brought to this country by the Romans," says Bridget. The herb garden, consisting of four beds each three metres square, has been designed by herb grower Jekka McVicar, of Alveston, near Thornbury, who won her 13th gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show earlier this summer. "I've known Jekka for some time -- she did the design and we did everything else," says Bridget. "To make room for the herb garden we had to dig out a 40ft self-seeded cherry tree which had been growing there for 20 years," she says. The family arrange afternoon and evening visits to the house and gardens followed by refreshments. Depending on the time of the visit, high tea can be provided which the Clarke's describe as "a serious repast" with savoury and sweet offerings and a choice of teas or coffee. Groups of people interested in visiting Gatcombe Court should ring Mrs Clarke on 01275 393141 Read more: http://legacy.thisisbristol.co.uk/Tea-history/story-11273399-detail/story.html#ixzz2idxw29Io

• published: 23 Oct 2013
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