If walls could talk, Eastnor’s dining room would keep you entertained all evening. It’s the room that has seen it all – candlelit feasts, fiery debates, family Christmases and the kind of parties that make you wonder how the chandelier is still intact.
It began life as Robert Smirke’s stage set: a mock-medieval hall with Gothic arches at each end, in-keeping with Smirke’s original authoritative design – he was, after all, tasked with creating a castle to impress his contemporaries. Smirke even designed the chairs, benches and fire screens still in use today – so when you sit down to dinner, you’re quite literally in someone else’s seat, with centuries of conversations drifting above the table like smoke from the candles.
The original dining room designed by Robert Smirke
Then came the 3rd Earl Somers, Charles – Eastnor’s original aesthete. In the 1850s, he turned his attentions upward, gilding the ceilings with oleander and bay leaves and enough family crests to serve as a who’s who of the Victorian aristocracy. If you look up, you’ll see the Somers and Cocks coat of arms, alongside those of families they were connected to – sometimes tenuously – with relationships stretching back to the 15th century.
The 3rd Earl’s influence extended far beyond his own century. In 2024, his ceiling design was recreated at WOW!house in Alidad’s Legend Room – proof of his enduring taste and Eastnor’s timeless appeal.
In the 1850s, the 3rd Earl Somers painted the ceilings with family crests
Portraits have always filled the walls. By 1933, the original Gothic arches were even removed to create more wall space – Eastnor has long been fond of filling its rooms with people. Generations of the family still gaze down from their frames today, watching over the table where they once dined themselves.
In the 1990s, Bernard Nevill gave the room a fresh facelift with 180 metres of fabric, new curtains and a vast mirror, sourced – rather unexpectedly – from a Salvation Army hostel. He re-hung portraits from other rooms, creating the striking gallery wall at one end of the room and shaping the grand yet inviting atmosphere it retains today.
In the 1990s, Bernard Nevill rehung portraits and added hundreds of metres of fabric.
Nowadays, the dining room is still very much the centre of fun. Private dinners, fashion shoots and the family’s own Christmas celebrations all take their turn on its stage – though clearing party poppers out of the chandelier is no small job.
And that’s the magic of the room: it feels timeless, but it’s really a collage of personalities, tastes and extravagances layered on top of each other. Every dinner, every toast, every dance just adds to the patina. Which means, if you’re lucky enough to dine here, you’re not just eating dinner – you’re part of the ongoing story.
Huntsman shot its autumn/winter 2024 collection in the Dining Room.