2021. President Ted's delayed Night

The Salvation Army Sunbury Court

Few structures so typify England's magnificent heritage as well as Sunbury Court. This restored 18th century mansion and its rambling,  picturesque grounds, and gardens, are living testament to the grandeur of an age long since passed.

Today, a staff of fourteen maintain and operate Sunbury Court for the thousands of visitors and guests who visit annually. But when it was built in 1723 by John Witt,  just prior to his marriage, more than forty cooks, chambermaids, butlers, valets, coachmen, footmen, housemaids and gardeners were required to ensure its smooth and efficient running.

Visitors recline in the mansion's 250-year-old drawing room, surrounded by the artistry of Elias Martin, the Swedish painter who came to study in London and found himself decorating the home and palaces of the wealthy. Restored in recent years to their original brilliance through the co-operation of the Swedish lnstitute of Stockholm, these priceless frescoes with their pastoral settings and gothic landscapes are just as they were seen when Martin painted them directly upon the plastered walls more than two centuries ago.

ln the hallway that separates the dining room from the lounge, visitors pass under the graceful moulded ceiling and skylight. Like the Martin paintings, these simply proportioned designs are part of the original 18th century building.

The hall is an appropriate introduction to the hexagonal lounge. Once a music salon, this room features one of the most remarked about objects in the building, a 3,000-piece crystal chandelier, thought to be an artefact of the original mansion. Here too are marvellous examples of Victorian mirrors, gilt work, and a late 19th century Regency fireplace of marble.

One of the most attractive features of the house is the curved main staircase. Visitors see it today much as it was when the mansion took shape in the early years of the 18th century. But a stairway they don't see is the winding spiral of ironwork topped by a skylight and located near the entrance to the Conference Room. While the stair itself is probably Victorian the well in which it is built has been used by the staff for-access to the kitchens and storerooms for more than two-hundred years