This half-timbered late-15th century farmhouse was the country retreat of the great Shakespearean actress Dame Ellen Terry from 1899 until her death here in 1928.
She first saw the house in the company of Henry Irving, the manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London's Covent Garden, with whom she shared a famous theatrical partnership for nearly 24 years.
The attractive house was constructed in around 1480 and although it has been altered from time to time over the years it still retains its essential character.
The building used to be called Port House and before the sea receded it served a thriving shipyard.
In the garden the duckweed-covered pool marks the site of a repair dock that was in use for some 400 years until the Smallhythe channel silted up in the 17th century.
Today the house is preserved as a theatrical museum, full of mementos of the great actress and the world in which she moved. The rooms were preserved by Ellen Terry's daughter, Edith Craig, who kept the house as a memorial to her mother and who ultimately gave the house to the National Trust.
In the large beamed kitchen, which Ellen Terry used as a dining room, two walls are devoted to David Garrick and Sarah Siddons. Other exhibits include a message from Sarah Bernhardt, a chain worn by Fanny Kemble, Sir Arthur Sullivan's monocle and a visiting card from Alexandre Dumas.
In an adjoining room is a letter from Oscar Wilde begging Ellen Terry to accept a copy of his first play. Here too is Terry's make-up box with its sparce contents seeming inadequate for such an important actress.
Upstairs is a display of the lavish costumes Henry Irving created for Ellen Terry. These costumes, which were criticised for their extravagance, include the famous beetle-wing dress worn by Ellen Terry for her last appearance on the stage at the Hammersmith Lyric in 1925.
The Lyceum Room records the professional partnership between Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. They acted together for 24 years and during this time the actress achieved her greatest triumphs which are reflected in the exhibits in this room.
In Ellen Terry's simple, low-ceilinged bedroom the theatre and her public life were excluded.
The room is as she left it with patterned rugs of the bare floorboards and a modest dressing table. There are pastel portraits of her family above her Empire bed. On the bedside table is the wooden crucifix made for Ellen Terry by her son, Gordon Craig. Here too is a worn copy of the Globe Shakespeare, annotated by the actress; the book she prized most.
The garden at Smallhythe Place is open to the public and there is also a barn theatre.
2008: 1 Mar-9 Mar:11:00-17:00 Sat & Sun; 15 Mar-26 Oct:11:00-17:00 Mon-Wed & Sat-Sun. Open Good Friday. Last entry 16:30 or dusk.
Tel: 01580 762334 Smallhythe Place Website
