Mary Skipwith talks to the chatelaine of Belvoir Castle about her Welsh farming roots, the Government’s lack of vision for the countryside and why fieldsports are a great leveller
The saying ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’ suggests a desire to shut the door on the world but there is no such attitude from the Welshwoman residing at Belvoir Castle. The Duchess of Rutland is renowned for her passion for sharing the heritage of her home alongside treasuring her roots. “When you have the responsibility of living somewhere like this, surrounded by portraits looking down on you, you are aware of being a mere custodian for a moment in time,” she says.
“I come from a Welsh Quaker family of sheep farmers and cattle drovers. When my children were young, I would take them to stay on the farm. There was always drama: saddles would slip or a grumpy mare would kick a terrier too close to her heels. But it solidified in my children the intertwining of my upbringing and the one I married into, so they are passionate about their Welsh roots and have a deep love for rural life. As many of the latest generation no longer earn a full-time income in the countryside, parents have to fight harder to keep that flame burning.”
The Duchess may no longer be busy mothering five young children (in the summer her eldest, Violet, got engaged and her youngest, Hugo, turned 21) but she never finds herself at a loose end. “My life has always been a juggling act and it’s no exception with my most recent ventures,” she reveals. One of these is the Belvoir Retail Village, which opened in 2018 but, like most businesses, was affected by COVID-19 soon after. Happily it is thriving again, and the additions of the farm shop and butcher alongside the Duchess Collection boutique, soapery, bistro, garden centre and interior design shop make it a destination in the area.
Her book, The Accidental Duchess, has reached bookshelves worldwide, quashing her initial fears. “When I was approached by a publisher I didn’t think it through much and said ‘yes’, then panicked but actually it was a wonderful experience,” she admits. Branching out into her eponymous podcast was the brainchild of her daughter Violet. In the series, the Duchess interviews other women running historic homes. “Vi came back from America and said ‘I think it would be amazing for you to chat to people who have had similar lives. You have a lot to share with people.’ Having trained as an opera singer, I am glad to be putting my voice to use in other ways; a voice is a powerful thing.”
The latest way of engaging visitors has been through more access to the estate, whether it be behind-the-scenes tours on the gun bus with one of Belvoir’s retired tenant farmers or its first Flower & Garden Show. “While the castle is the showpiece, it’s the hinterland that keeps it going,” the Duchess explains. “When I first moved here, unbeknown to me, some plans I had put away in a drawer were for a Capability Brown landscape. The 200 acres of woodland garden are now how he would have wanted it. I worked with David Austin to design the Rose Garden. I knew nothing other than the soil was bad. I was told that roses loved clay, so I asked a farmer to bring a load. My gardener thought I was joking and watched as the roses died. We had it all redone and the roses now thrive. I only have one parttime head gardener; the rest is done by volunteers. It looks as good as it does because of their combined efforts.”
Collaboration is central to Belvoir’s operations. “We’ve gone from around 40 staff to eight. I call it the ‘Belvoir Bubble’. Everyone mucks in and is so knowledgeable. If you could run a country like that and get rid of the middlemen, you would have those who truly understand what they are trying to protect. The government bodies making decisions over the countryside have no real vision,” she believes. “We are living in an increasingly urbanised world, so we need to teach society the value of respect for nature, oneself and each other. I am proud of the fact that through our Belvoir Cricket & Countryside Trust we bring about 5,000 children to the estate and give them the opportunity to develop appreciation for rural traditions. It helps eradicate misconceptions. Some see the pomp of country pursuits and imagine they are purely for toffs. However, I believe they are great levellers. It doesn’t matter what your status is, we all struggle to get into a hunting coat at the end of the summer.”
As well as hosting the Belvoir Hunt’s Closing Meet, the estate accommodates hunt rides – “a wonderful way of raising money and involving people who might not usually follow hounds”. The Duchess’s second daughter, Alice, helps organise the hunt ball at the castle and is “obsessed” with hunting: “When the children were little we would go to see the hound puppies when they arrived and we’d spend hours playing with them. Alice has been addicted ever since.”
Shooting is just as popular. Out of the 60 drives, Frog Hollow is the family favourite: “We meet here for Elevenses and have venison sausage rolls and drink wine from our vineyard or apple juice from our heritage trees. I appeared on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan and I said how inexpensive game is, and he teased me because there is a perception that game is served on silver platters by butlers. So we get extra delight from eating our famous pheasant nuggets and chips from our own game and potatoes.”
It is evident that from all that Belvoir boasts, most meaningfully to the Duchess it’s a home: “This has been a wonderful place for my children to grow up and they still gravitate here. There’s always someone who wants a Sunday roast and it gives me enormous pleasure to cook for them. I feel they will stay close and that is the greatest thing. As a parent, you want your children to be a unit when you are gone.” And while the Duchess is still there, her door will always be open.
