Room with a view

See views of the countryside surrounding Shambellie and discover a treasure trove of Victorian fancy dress.

This former bedroom has the best views in the house and has been deliberately left so that visitors can circulate freely and appreciate why this site was chosen for the house. On the walls some information is given about the village of New Abbey and the building of Shambellie.

From one of the windows the ruins of Sweetheart Abbey can just be seen and on a clear day, in the far distance, the hills of Cumbria. Criffel, the mountain that dominates the skyline for miles around, can be seen from the other window. All around are the woods and forestry plantations of the Shambellie estate.

Fancy dress

In the next door rooms are displayed some of the pieces from Charles Stewart's collection which do not fit into the themes or time-scale of the period rooms. At present the theme is fancy dress.

Fancy dress was extremely popular for parties and balls in Victorian times. People sometimes posed for portraits in costume from classical or romantic costume and a number of wonderful costumes are on display including an '18th century Venetian woman' outfit probably from the 1930s, a Pierrot costume made from curtaining material, and worn by Sydney E Taylor, who won First Prize in it at a ball on board ship for Brazil about 1920-5 and part of an 1890s 'Knave of Hearts' costume.