Following Colin Firth's footsteps at Lacock Abbey!

I absolutely love Lacock, as visiting the village feels like visiting a film set and it really takes you back to Pride and Prejudice (1995). On our last visit, the Lacock Abbey cloisters were closed for filming a Netflix series, so we missed seeing those, and this time we were lucky enough to have a peek. 

Lacock Abbey (now a National Trust property) was founded in 1229, and its vaulted rooms were used as a nunnery of the Augustinian order.

The gardens are lovely to walk around and picnic in. 

We have previously visited the manor house, which was built over the old cloisters in the 16th century. The house later became the home of William Henry Fox Talbot, who created the earliest camera negative. 

The house is currently closed, but the gardens and cloister are really worth a visit... and I shall tell you why!

Of course, the medieval cloister (above) downstairs is more famously known as Hogwarts school in Harry Potter, but as that is not exactly my genre, the cloister is far more familiar to me from Pride and Prejudice. This is where the flashback scene of Mr Darcy at Cambridge University was filmed and where we learn more about Mr Wickham's character and Mr Darcy's relationship with Mr Wickham. 

Colin Firth is filmed walking down the corridor, until he enters a room where he finds Mr Wickham "misbehaving" with a girl!

Also, the Lacock Abbey stables (below) were used as the exterior of the coaching inn where Lydia and Kitty meet their sisters when they return from London. Lydia throws open a window and waves at her sisters, and later inside the inn (shot elsewhere) they gossip about men and hats. 

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting another Jane Austen film location - do have a look at my previous blog from Lacock for a tour around Lacock village. 

The Practicality of Pattens

Have you ever wondered how ladies of Jane Austen's time used to manage to keep the hems of their gowns clean? At a time when country roads were mostly dirt lanes, likely to get muddy throughout winter, and city roads were covered in rubbish and dirt, one would think that their hems would always be "six inches deep in mud" like Elizabeth Bennet's in Pride and Prejudice. And how on earth did ladies protect those delicate shoes? 

The answer to Regency shoe issues lies in pattens. These were a type of overshoe, often consisting of a wooden sole raised on an iron ring, lifting the wearer several centimetres above the ground, which would have protected their shoes and hems. Pattens were like an early version of galoshes, a type of overshoe. My grandad, ever the gentleman, always used to wear galoshes to protect his finer polished shoes. 

I was excited to come across a pair of pattens on holiday at Chippenham Museum (near Bath) in their local history section. In this picture from the museum, you can see a child's pair on the left and an adult pair on the right. 

In Persuasion, Jane Austen writes about "the dash of other carriages, the heavy rumble of carts and drays, the bawling of newspapermen, muffin-men and milkmen, and the ceaseless clink of pattens...these were noises which belonged to the winter pleasures" (Chapter 14). Anne feels alien in Bath with all the noises surrounding her after years of quiet country life (perhaps like Jane Austen?). 

It was very common for ladies to wear these when out and about - more so amongst the working ladies. One could easily imagine Jane wearing pattens, as she comes across quite a practical person. Jane's niece, Anna Austen, wrote, "I recollect the frequent visits of my two Aunts, & how they walked in wintry weather through the sloppy lane between Steventon & Dean in pattens, usually worn at that time even by gentlewomen.”

I can't imagine pattens being comfortable to wear over long distances - what do you think? Would they be difficult to balance on? On the other hand, I couldn't imagine living without a pair either, what with all those white gowns, and no modern detergents! 

References and further reading: 

Tomalin, C. (1997) Jane Austen: A Life. Penguin Books.

https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/regency-fashion-keeping-hems-clean/