By the time you read this I don’t know whether Balcombe Village in West Sussex will be at war or at peace. It has been the front line over the summer in the fracking debate – and, in the media, has sometimes looked like a war zone with flailing protesters being carried off by the authorities. This resonates with the Lytton family as Balcombe Victory Hall – its Village Hall – is spectacularly decorated with beautiful murals by Neville, the 3rd Earl of Lytton, my great-grandfather’s brother, of contrasting images of “War” and of “Peace”.
We are fortunate, at Knebworth House, not to have to confront police lines to get a glimpse of these beautiful works of art. All you have to do it stand in line for our inadequate (for an interval) toilet facilities! Hanging in Knebworth House’s ground floor passage are Neville’s sketches for these magnificent murals. So, book in for one of our Christmas music concerts and experience the beauty of these designs – without the risk of being truncheoned by a policeman!
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com