Bateman’s Report

Bateman’s report for Kipling Society meeting April 2025

Summer has arrived and with it the seasonal increase in visitors. It is gratifying to learn how many families come several times a year and almost regard the house as their own. The annual NT survey of visitors to Bateman’s confirmed that 75% of members gave us the maximum satisfaction score. I can only assume that the remainder were stung by one of Rudyard’s bees. Also, the Aberdeen terriers can be a bit nippy!

A few statistics: Visitor numbers for the last accounting year were 120,000, which is 3,000 less than the previous year. This is credited to our new winter conservation closure as well as two closures due to bad weather; second-hand book sales (as opposed to NT shop sales) reached £32,000, money spent specifically on Bateman’s projects. It is a sad fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the NT to source new Kipling books as the demand has decreased to a level which makes new editions unprofitable. Would the KS consider buying out Macmillans?

The café is a great source of revenue. The average spend per NT member is £4.45. 11,000 scones were gratefully devoured, washed down by 27,000 pots of tea. Plans are in hand to restructure the café garden (the Mulberry Garden). Using old photos, it is hoped to recreate the changes the Kiplings made to the old farmyard. That configuration has been modified over the years, particularly by the NT, resulting in its present form. There is a basic principle of trying to recreate the house and gardens as the Kiplings knew them. As the family was notorious for destroying old records, receipts, etc. this is something of a detective game, relying on old photos and the reminiscences of guests and servants. This is nowhere more evident than in the house itself where the rooms on the first floor and the second floor (which now includes the conservation studio) have had multiple uses. The conservation staff has been diligently reorganising the sites and configuration of the bedrooms to give what is thought to be a reasonable representation of the rooms. Moving a four-poster bed through a Jacobean doorway merits an MBE. Only the best for Bateman’s.

Which reminds me. Sadly, Emma, our Deputy House and Collections Manager, has moved on (to another Trust property) and will be replaced in June.

The refurbishment of the Memorial Room has proved a great success. Previously, visitors tended to walk quickly through a rather worthy display of artefacts but the new layout, with objects arranged in groups of clearly organised themes, has much enhanced the experience. Of course, the law of unexpected consequences has resulted in the room becoming rather crowded and something of a bottleneck.

We still await the return of the restored and reframed Kaa from the Natural History Museum. It will then go back to the Powder Room to be displayed alongside its fellow Detmold, the Buffalo Herd.

David Forsyth (Bateman’s Liaison Officer)

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Bateman’s report for Kipling Society meeting 5 Feb 2025

Bateman’s has not been immune to the current severe weather and has closed to visitors on two recent occasions principally due to the risk of flying debris injuring visitors.

The grounds are very much a winter vista, hellebores providing a rare hint of colour. The newly planted Old Sussex varieties of apple trees are prospering in the meadow facing the front of the house and the grass will be mowed in the summer, hopefully by a team of shire horses. Nothing flamboyant about the NT!

The mill is awaiting further repairs, this time to the central wooden post driven by the water wheel. We are still hopeful that the sale of the flour will be authorised soon, once the process is made bat-proof. The mills of bureaucracy grind much more slowly than the nearly 300-year-old mill.

The Christmas decorations were a huge success, attracting many visitors to admire them, this year themed on ‘A Jungle book Christmas’. Many of the visitors tour the local NT properties to compare the seasonal offerings and establish an informal league table. The time devoted to Christmas decorations grows exponentially and indeed has already commenced for this year. The final display involves a huge amount of work.

The event of the year will take place in late February when the refurbished Memorial Room will open to the public. The concept is to give a broad view of Kipling’s life and achievements with more striking display panels and better presentation of artefacts. John will receive a new prominence and new items, currently in store, as well as objects transferred from other rooms will now make a more vibrant and interesting experience.

It was something of a surprise to learn that the current distribution of the upper rooms is by no means sacrosanct, and the designation is often based on custom rather than fact. Scrutiny of guest correspondence has suggested that ‘John’s Room’ was in fact the Kiplings’ bedroom and that John normally used the West Bedroom. This is now reflected in a reorganisation, with the Elizabethan bed (which apparently was not the original left with the house but one acquired by the Kiplings) being transferred to the former ‘John’s’ room and the West bedroom being reorganised as a tribute to John. Moving the bed is causing sleepless nights for the staff, as although the bed is large, the doorways are not.

If winter comes, can Spring be far behind.

David Forsyth