Henry Lytton Cobbold

It’s a good month to talk about the Lytton Arms.  The actual Lytton Arms.  The pub, when it reopens this month – if it continues to use the image of the Arms – will probably use a simplified version.  The full version (as illustrated here) is, let’s face it, over the top for a modern logo.  Not much of this elaborate detail survives when printed business card size.

I have seen a potential draft, and not only have all elements above the coronet been omitted, but also the two angels to the side.  We have only recently discovered why the Lytton Arms is supported by angels.  It appears to relate to an association to St Albans Cathedral.  Our eagle-eyed Archivist Jill Campbell recently spotted the Lytton shield on the ceiling of the cathedral (see photo).  This relates, apparently, to contributions made to the repair of the Cathedral’s roof in 1681–3 by the Lytton family.  Those were the days when the Lytton family could afford to worry about other roofs than their own!

The angels may not be in the new sign, but they will, I trust, be looking over the new pub.  And we, I trust, will join them as supporters of the new Lytton Arms!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

“I, Mary Ann Stratton of the Lytton Arms Inn, situate at Knebworth, in the parish of Knebworth, in the County of Hertford, Innkeeper, do HEREBY GIVE NOTICE that it is my intention to apply… for the REMOVAL of a LICENSE now in force in respect of the house and premises, situate in Knebworth aforesaid… for the sale of all intoxicating liquors to be drunk in the said house and premises… Given under my hand this 4^th day of August, 1887”…

And who can blame her?  Mrs Stratton had turned 70-years-old, had lost her husband Thomas, and been running The Lytton Arms most of her adult life.  It was time for her to retire, and also time for the old pub to retire.  What had for generations been The Lytton Arms became Inn Cottage, and a brand new Lytton Arms was built next door and leased by my great-great-grandfather that Christmas to Hawkes & Co., brewers out of Bishops Stortford.

It is that Lytton Arms that, this spring, 130 years later, begins a new chapter.  The Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust has entered a lease with Anglia Country Inns and a newly-renovated pub will re-open on 4^th May for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.  Anglia Country Inns is a local family company, and it gives me special pleasure that that family is the Nye family – as Steve Nye was The Lytton Arms’ popular publican in the 1990s.  Anglia Country Inns’ MD is Steve’s nephew James Nye, who had his first job scrubbing dishes in the kitchen of The Lytton Arms during his uncle’s tenure.

So Mrs Stratton can rest in peace – The Lytton Arms is in good hands and we’ll be raising a glass of intoxicating liquor to her and all The Lytton Arms publicans from across the centuries, as we welcome the new landlords to our much loved pub.  May 4^th be with you.  The future is Nye.

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

“In years to come this story of compassion and chivalry will be told in the schools to children yet unborn… And many a woman child will say in her heart: ‘I, too, will be fearless and chivalrous and brave'”

Words written in 1910 by Katherine Roberts in her “Pages from the Diary of a Militant Suffragette” about my great-great-aunt and Knebworth resident Constance Lytton. There has been much Press about Constance this year, coinciding with events taking place around the 100th anniversary of the beginnings of Women’s suffrage. Photos of her tend to be of her during and after her Suffragette struggles, so here I show her as the child that would grow up to be fearless and chivalrous and brave. The painting, which hangs in Knebworth House, I think is particularly beautiful.

Constance Lytton as a child  ~  © www.knebworthhouse.com / www.bulwerlytton.com

I have been asked to give an update on the Lytton Arms. Work to repair dilapidations on the building is now taking place and KHEPT, the Knebworth House charity, hopes to have a new publican in place this Spring. I hesitate to give you an exact date, as I have been caught out before – but we should know more for next month’s Parish News.

And it almost is Spring! So it is our pleasure to invite all residents of Knebworth Parish to celebrate the start of our 2018 Season at our Parish Open Day on Sunday 25th March. Admission to the Park, Gardens and House will be free to everyone with a copy of the Parish News magazine or other proof that they live in the Parish. Please enter via Old Knebworth and gate at St Mary’s. We look forward to welcoming you!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

Some of the creatures to be found in Knebworth House Gardens…

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

As we enter another brave new year, I reflect that I have been writing news and thoughts in a monthly column in this magazine for over 12 years.  Every one of these columns is stored on the Knebworth House website – my first is dated December 2005.  Today, in 2018, as well as sending news and thoughts monthly to the Parish News, I now also send it regularly, sometimes daily, to the whole world (potentially), via Twitter.

In December 2005 the word ‘Twitter’ meant no more than the sound of birds.  ‘Twitter’ the phone/computer app was created four months after this column, in March 2006, and launched in July 2006.  Today it is used by over 330 million people, and is famously (or infamously) the preferred method of communication of the President of the United States. You may prefer not to know what the President of the United States was thinking last night, but it is extraordinary that you can!  Hearing from me once a month, you may also feel is quite enough.  But there will be people and news that you are interested in on a more regular basis, and if you have a mobile phone (or access to the internet), in 2018, you can be kept up-to-date instantly, at no cost.

I don’t believe, in our generation, that Twitter is a replacement for the magazine you have in your hand, but I do encourage you if you have access to a mobile phone to ‘follow’ parish news that interests you from the Twitter accounts of local people and local organisations.  If you haven’t already, download the Twitter app, create an account for yourself (it’s free), type “Knebworth” or “Hertfordshire” into search, and ‘follow’ (it’s free) those people and organisations whose updates might be of interest.  Our local newspapers, radio stations and politicians won’t be telling you what they had for breakfast – they will be giving you, in short 280-character comments, up-to-date news and thoughts about our community, its daily life, issues and opportunities.  District Councillor Steve Hemingway’s Twitter feed @SteveKnebworth is a good example.  @HenryCobboldKH is a less good example – warning, I may reference my breakfast – but if, over the years, you’ve found one or two of these columns worth reading, you may also find the occasional tweet from me of interest.

Happy Brave New Year!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

At Knebworth House we are delighted that my wife Martha was re-elected last month as Deputy President of the Historic Houses Association, which represents over 1,600 historic houses, castles and gardens across the U.K.  Not only is she the first woman in the position but also the first American.  Although Martha has lived in Knebworth for 25 years, she grew up in Alabama, which, as I write, is getting bad press over a controversial election candidate – so I am delighted to counter that with a positive Alabama story.

In this same week, students from a High School in Alabama, moved by the story of my great-great-aunt, the suffragette Constance Lytton (1868-1923), are staging a play they have created based on her life.  The school’s website reports, “These students researched the suffrage movement, individual suffragettes, and those opposed to the movement; they have created a story that is compelling and timely.  Their play, “Deeds Not Words”, examines the personal cost of struggle for equal rights.”

What a distant dream this would have been to Constance a hundred years ago.  She did not live to see full voting rights for women in the U.K. in 1928 – and although women were permitted to vote in the United States in 1920 by the 19^th Amendment, the State of Alabama did not formally ratify this amendment until 1953.  So how wonderful that this former resident of our village – who sacrificed so much in the fight for equal rights – is being celebrated by children in Alabama in 2017!

Happy Christmas to all,

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

The third of the three films I mentioned last month that feature Knebworth House comes out this month – ‘Paddington 2’ – although unlike ‘Victoria and Abdul’ and ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’, I suspect it will not be easy to recognise the House and Park.  The field between St Mary’s and the House was the set for the fairground sequence, and although shots did include the House, if it is still visible in the film it will be heavily disguised, as the setting, I believe, is meant to be a London park.  For ‘Victoria and Abdul’ they had to create snow – for ‘Paddington 2’ the problem was the opposite.  They had to pretend it was June in January.  See if you can spot how cold the actors and extras are pretending not to be!

The other place we are proud to have featured heavily this autumn is the V&A.  There were lots of references to Knebworth Park in the museum’s very successful Pink Floyd exhibition.  Most surprising was a copy of our old Guide Book decorating the inside of one of the red phone boxes that were used to create a mood for the exhibition.  Less surprising was the prominent, now iconic, “All Roads Lead To Knebworth” poster from when Pink Floyd played Knebworth Park in 1975.  The exhibition has now moved from the V&A to Rome – I wonder how the Romans will feel about a little village in England commandeering their expression?

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

There are three feature films to look out for this autumn that feature Knebworth House, Gardens and Park – ‘Victoria and Abdul’, ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ and ‘Paddington 2’.  Martha and I were privileged to be included in the premiere ‘Victoria and Abdul’ at the Odeon Leicester Square – a special night, as it was also our 30th wedding anniversary.  The film is good fun, and very beautiful, and we are proud that Knebworth House holds its own in the company of so many other stunning locations, including Osborne House and the Taj Mahal!

There is a short scene in St Mary’s Churchyard, and scenes in Knebworth House’s State Drawing Room, Library, Staircase, Queen Elizabeth Bedroom and Gardens… and a carriage ride up our Park’s central avenue, to which they have magically added snow.  If you are eagle-eyed, you will also spot some movie magic as Victoria (Judy Dench) and Abdul (Ali Fazal) walk the length of one of the avenues in the Garden.  Although they walk the full length of the avenue, in the close up of Abdul the background does not change – because if it had, my father would have had a cameo… in the form of his cedar tree jousting statue that they walk right past!  My father did celebrate his 80^th birthday this summer, but he wasn’t around in the 1890s!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH

I spoke too soon.  When I wrote last month, it looked as though KHEPT (the Knebworth House charity) had found a good candidate to take on the running of The Lytton Arms, and that they could begin in August.  That wasn’t to be.  But since then other candidates have come forward and we are optimistic that the pub will be up and running again in the next couple of months.   During this time we also hope that ground work will begin opposite The Lytton Arms on creating two new cricket pitches for Knebworth Park Cricket Club.  The club has not yet raised sufficient funds to start work on its new pavilion, but it looks as though it will have raised enough to start work on the pitches, which will take a couple of years before they are playable on.  I hope I haven’t spoken too soon again!

As this edition lands on yours mat, Knebworth Park will be hosting open air cinema – so why not come and join us for a picnic in front of Knebworth House watching either “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” (31^st August), “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1^st September) or “Pretty Woman” (2^nd September).  I cannot think of a more appropriate location to sing along to “There’s a light, over at the Frankenstein place!”

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com

120 years ago this week – 4^th August 1897 – was an auspicious day for the village of Knebworth.  The man behind much of the planning of New Knebworth, who created, remodeled or inspired many of its beautiful buildings – the foremost architect of his day – Edwin Lutyens, married my great-great-aunt Emily Lytton in St Mary’s Church.

As a relation, earlier this year, I was fortunate to be invited to a gathering of 100 members of the Lutyens family to celebrate the opening of a large hotel and restaurant complex in the old Midland Bank building in the City of London, designed by Edwin Lutyens, and now named after him, “The Ned”.  It is a splendid adaptation of a building that had lost its use, into something vibrant and modern that retains its architectural features and significance.

Would that we were having such success here, with some of Knebworth’s dormant buildings.  Still, I hope this week – or at least this month – we can also celebrate the good and auspicious news of one of our buildings springing to life again.  I’ll see you in the Lytton Arms – to raise a glass to Uncle Ned and Aunt Emily!

Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com