BACSA Visit to Belmont House, Faversham

18 June 2025: A group of 22 BACSA members spent a beautifully sunny day visiting Belmont House, near Faversham, in Kent, on a tour organised by Paul Dean, BACSA’s Acting Events Officer. We were extremely pleased that Michael Harris, the present Lord Harris (and a BACSA member) and his wife were able to join us for the tour.

Our guide, Simon, explained how the house had been purchased by Michael’s ancestor, General George Harris, Commander in Chief of the Madras Army, with prize money awarded after the defeat of Tipu Sultan at the 1799 battle of Seringapatam. Over the next two centuries various family members served in India – two as Governors of Madras, one as Governor of Bombay – before returning home with exotic mementos of their time overseas.

Situated a few miles outside Faversham, the building has a commanding view over the Kent Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Samuel Wyatt, the architect who had remodelled the house in the 1780s, was a master of trompe l’oeil techniques, and understood how to make the most of the stunning scenery. The red brick façade was covered with cream-coloured ‘mathematical tiles’ to blend in with the landscape; false windows were constructed to enhance the building’s external symmetry; metal window frames, veneered to look like wood, enabled much larger panes of glass to be fitted; indoors, an extra ring of balustrading above the second floor suggests the existence of a third storey – however, that’s an illusion! The staircase stops on the second floor; the doors we see beyond indicate the attic rooms, which are only accessible from a winding back staircase.

The house’s connections with India date from the arrival of General George Harris, his wife Anne and their growing family. The intricate Vizigapatam ivory jewel chest, originally made to hold jewellery belonging to Tipu’s wife, is on display in the North Bedroom. (The jewels themselves are currently on permanent loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; we could see how they look on digital displays at Belmont). Downstairs, the Armoury holds a collection of around 200 pieces of historic weaponry, including the 1778 sword of Haider Ali, Tipu Sultan’s father.

George Harris was raised to the peerage as Baron Harris of Seringapatam, Mysore and Belmont in 1815. A massive family group portrait, painted by Arthur William Devis, hangs in the Dining Room. It shows George, his wife Anne, and their ten children – including their eldest son (William) George and his brother (Michael) Thomas (through whom ‘our’ Michael recently inherited the title, after the elder boy’s line of descendants came to an end). At this point in the tour (as agreed with Simon), Michael took over briefly as our guide, and gave us some fascinating thumbnail sketches of his ancestors in the painting.

The picture includes George Harris’s son-in-law, Stephen Rumbold Lushington, a Writer in the Madras Civil Service, who became Harris’s Private Secretary; married his eldest daughter Anne, and served as Governor of Madras from 1827-32.

George’s eldest son (William) George, who had fought, aged 16, with his father at Seringapatam, became the 2nd Lord Harris after the latter’s death in 1829. His son George, who became the 3rd Lord Harris in 1845, served as Governor and Commander in Chief in Trinidad from 1846-1854. The collection of 34 watercolours and oil paintings which he commissioned from the local artist Michel-Jean Cazabon, now considered ‘one of the most important visual records of 19th century Trinidad’, are displayed upstairs at Belmont, in the Yellow Bedroom. After serving as Governor of Madras from 1854-9, he returned to England with several intricately carved Indian rosewood chairs, which are now to be found in the Entrance Hall and the Library at Belmont.

This George’s son, also George, became the 4th Lord Harris in 1872. Very well known for his enthusiasm for cricket, he led Kent from 1875-1889, and was captain of England for the first test match against Australia in 1880. He served as Governor of Bombay from 1890-1895. The sofa and armchairs in the Library were specially made, at his request, with low seats to facilitate conversations with prominent Indians who were accustomed to sitting on floor cushions.

Most of the carpets in use at Belmont were ordered from workshops in Bombay, as Harris was keen to support local industries.

Much of the exceptional Indian silverware, including the elephant centrepiece on the 12-seat table in the Dining Room, dates from this period. So, of course, does the ceremonial Porter’s Trolley (in the ‘Saloon’) – cased in silver and mother of pearl, with a matching spade. The inscription tells us that it was used in 1893 by Harris, then Governor of Bombay, to cut the first sod on the Jamnagar railway.

As well as cricket, this Lord Harris clearly enjoyed shikar: the stuffed lion greeting visitors in the Entrance Hall is one of his trophies.

The 5th Lord Harris succeeded to the title in 1932. His passion was for horology, and the collection of 340 timepieces which he assembled at Belmont is believed to be one of the largest clock collections in private ownership in the UK.

Our tour came to an end in the Orangery, where we were served a delicious lunch made from local produce, following which several people chose to explore the Gardens. Our thanks are due to the staff at Belmont, including Simon, our guide, and Andrea Davies, Administrator, and her team for their help on the day.

In 1980 the Harris (Belmont) Charity was created to secure the future ‘preservation, maintenance and upkeep of Belmont House and its contents’. The House and Gardens are open to the public. Click here for further information on available dates and times, and on the ‘special days’ organised for those interested in any of the fascinating, specialist collections – the Armoury, the Cazabon paintings, and the Clock Collection.

Rachel Magowan (with thanks to Michael Harris for the cricketing details)
**************************************************************************

Diary Dates

BACSA Newsletter readers, family and friends may be interested in the following events:

****************************************************************************************

(Suggestions for BACSA website news items, volunteering opportunities and diary entries, are always welcome – please send them to ‘comms@bacsa.org.uk’.)