It was great to head down to Devon last weekend to see family. Family that we’d not seen since before lockdown - we were due to visit in April 2020, but clearly that didn’t happen. When we’re there we have a few favourite National Trust properties which we visit in turn. On this visit we headed over to Greenway, Agatha Christie’s holiday home in Brixham. It’s a great house, and the gardens are pretty spectacular too.
Today I’m sharing pictures from the library, and unusually there’s relatively few books in my photos.
During the Second World War Greenway was requisitioned by the US Coast Guard and one of the men stationed there left ‘a unique momento’ in the Library. It’s not the first time I’ve seen the frieze, but it’s something that doesn’t disappoint on any visit.
The freeze is on all four walls and there’s 13 murals in what was the ‘mess room’ with a bar set up in the alcove. The murals are painted using just four colours - blue, khaki, black and white and shows incidents that occurred during their eleven months’ journey to Greenway.
When the house was decommissioned and returned to Agatha Christie, she was pleased to see that little damage had been done but was “somewhat surprises to find the graffiti left in the library.”
The commander wrote offering to have ‘the fresco’ painted out and, as her autobiography records, she quickly wrote back that “it would be an historic memorial” that she was delighted to have.
It’s really quite special, so if you’re in the area it’s definitely worth a visit. But make sure to book your parking in advance.
