Townend

I was quite impressed with the old carvings in the National Trust property Townend, until I discovered that they had all been done by farmer occupant George Browne 1834 - 1914 who was an obsessive carver. Nearly all the wood in the farmhouse has been carved with decorations and dates that make it look older than it is. Beatrix Potter described him as the "tiresome Mr Browne" because he carved copied patterns into splendid old pieces of furniture.   It was quite a relief to find some plain wood that hadn't been subject to his chisel. But I'm sure he got a lot of pleasure from it.