Does a person ever really leave a house, even after they die? This is the thought that struck me during my visit to Bateman’s, the much loved Sussex country retreat of writer and poet Rudyard Kipling. His presence hung heavy in the air during my four hour visit on a wet, blustery winter’s day.
I seemed to be aware of him even as I drove from the main road to the entrance of his estate. The narrow winding country lane separated him from the rest of the world, something he had craved since moving back to England from America after spending his early life in India.
Then I walked past the neatly laid out orchard towards the old red brick walled garden. I could imagine him catching his first sight of the beautiful views of the countryside, and falling in love with the place even before he had seen the elegant grey stone house, built in 1634.
Inside, his presence shouted at me in every room, especially the dark oak furniture which he chose personally to suit the character of the house. Then I noticed the unusual pictures, in the oak panelled hall, of scenes from his books sculpted in red clay by his father.
The most individual room, and not to everyone’s taste, is the dining room with its dark leather wallpaper, illustrated with a variety of plants and birds. Here Rudyard entertained such eminent guests as his cousin Stanley Baldwin and T.E. Lawrence, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.
The sadness in his life hit me when I entered ‘John’s Bedroom’, named after his only son who was killed in the First World War. Photographs, medals, and even clothing are on display. In view of his poor eyesight he should never have been allowed to serve on the front line.
There is also a painting of his daughter Josephine. At the age of three she was already halfway through her tragically short life.
The undoubted highlight is the study, on the first floor overlooking the immaculate back garden, with its three thousand books of reference lining the walls. The centrepiece is the large desk, scattered with old papers and books, his spectacles, hourglass, blotter, ink-well and pipe. It is as if he has just put down his reading glasses and clay pipe to take a stroll in the garden.
Under the desk there is a small basket filled with screwed up sheets of paper. Kipling wrote all his works in longhand, ready to be typed by his secretary using the old typewriter which is also on display.
One can touch and smell Kipling’s old trunk and suitcase which have been placed on the floor of the Guest Room. In the large main bedroom there are many family photographs on display, his Nobel Prize for Literature, and first editions of some of his books with beautiful cover illustrations.
A visit to Bateman’s gives every visitor a wonderful opportunity to re-live Rudyard Kipling’s life in the early years of the twentieth century.