Quex

What a strange word Quex is. Quex House is close to Birchington where we stayed. This extract comes from the Quex website at http://www.quexmuseum.org/

There has been a house at Quex Park, in Kent since the early 1400s, home to several different families over the centuries. It has been called 'Quex' since its ownership in the 1500s by the Quekes family, who prospered from the extensive wool industry in Kent. Major Powell-Cotton's ancestor, John Powell (1721-1783), bought the house and adjacent farm as an investment in 1777. His nephew, John Powell Powell (1769-1849) demolished the mansion, replacing it with an elegant Regency home.

Our friend, Mike is a museum volunteer. Here’s another website extract regarding the museum.

The Powell-Cotton Museum at Quex Park was established in 1896 by Major Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton (1866-1940) to house natural history specimens and cultural objects collected on expeditions to Asia and Africa.

Major Powell-Cotton was a pioneer in the use of the diorama to display mounted mammals in representations of their natural habitats. The Powell-Cotton Museum natural history dioramas are outstanding examples, unique to the UK, stunning for their size, quality and imagery. Today they still excite the imagination of young and old alike.

These days we wouldn’t approve of the slaughter of the innocent animals but it has to be said that ‘Percy’ and followers have done a stunning job of displaying the animals. Photography is not permitted in the museum so once again I turn to the web site for an image or two.

Many more photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/powell-cotton-museum/ .

The museum isn’t just animals Percy studied and collected all sorts of items which form the museum. Fascinating.

Our pictures come from the outside of house and museum – the gardens.

The house was under some degree of renovation. From inside we could watch people restoring items with amazing care and finesse.

A big display telling us about the Quex gardens.

Aha – the house was indeed being renovated.

Quex is obviously a part of England’s green and pleasant land. The people down there are a part of a fountain.

Is that a contorted hazel?

I love the water bowser. It’s so simple and elegant. It’s probably quite weighty when full!

I could use the same simple and elegant description for primroses.

There’s the fountain, looking back at the wrapped house.

A happy group of friends.

The fountain. Evidently it leaks. Water level should be at the height of the platform.

Peacocks are often found at ‘stately’ homes. Quex had a cock and a peahen.

We know about peacock eyes in the feathers, but the image below is 100% peacock as well

Quex has rather a sweet little band stand.

It had a fine peacock perch.

A final Quex shot. This is the Waterloo Tower – a bell tower containing 12 bells hung for change ringing and containing 12 bells. It is entirely secular. It was built in 1819. The white lattice spire on top has a similarity with the Eiffel Tower but this one at Quex is much older than the famous Paris landmark.

And that’s a quick tour of a lovely location.