Thursday, 5. February 2025
Beaulieu, Hampshire
An interesting-looking day out from my Great British Bucket List book that caught my eye was the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire. So yesterday, I set off on a day trip to the New Forest to visit.
After a two-hour drive along mostly rural A-roads through Wiltshire – passing Swindon, Marlborough and Salisbury, and stopping to refuel just outside Southampton – I arrived at Beaulieu at around 11:30am.
The main attraction here is, of course, the National Motor Museum. Alongside the famous car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, there are also a couple of cars from the Disney film Cars, and a section dedicated to motorbikes.
One exhibit that particularly caught my attention was The Bear, a vehicle that has travelled all around the world – over 100,000 miles; Check out their The World Overland website. Iโd love to do something like that myself one dayโฆ although perhaps in a slightly more comfortable car.
Thereโs also an exhibition called We Had One of Those, where you can actually sit inside some of the vintage cars, and On Screen Cars, where Del Boy’s Reliant Robin, Arthur Weasley’s Ford Anglia, Doctor Who’s Bessie and Mr Bean’s Mini are all on display.
After enjoying the Motor Museum, I walked over to the nearby monorail station. The monorail circles the site while the driver points out key places of interest, and it turned out to be a great way of getting a quick overview of everything else there is to see and do at Beaulieu beyond the museum itself.
My next stop was Palace House. Originally part of Beaulieu Abbey and once serving as the gatehouse, the building is today the family home of the Montagu family. It was also one of the first historic houses in the country to open to the public.
My favourite rooms were the library and the kitchen. The bedrooms upstairs were very impressive too – I particularly liked the Motor Room – and the bathrooms were beautifully decorated. I loved the fact that one of them is called The Throne Room.
What struck me most was that Palace House really does feel like a family home rather than a museum piece. Because it is still lived in, there’s a warmth and authenticity that you donโt always find in historic houses.
Afterwards, I walked to the far edge of the estate to visit the Art Russe Gallery, located in the Clock Tower. It’s the UK’s first gallery dedicated to Soviet Russian art and was originally housed inside the main building before moving to the Clock Tower in 2019.
Next, I visited the Secret Army Exhibition. Although quite small, it was fascinating, telling the story of SOE, the Special Operations Executive, during the Second World War and the important role Beaulieu played in training SOE operatives.
By this point the rain had really set in, so I headed to the restaurant for lunch – pizza and a slice of cake – before continuing on to see the remains of Beaulieu Abbey.
Founded by King John in the 13th century, the abbey was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII in 1538. Today, the parish church stands within this part of the estate, alongside the Domus and Monastic Life Exhibition, which helps bring the history of the abbey to life.
I also had a brief walk around the grounds and gardens, including the Victorian Garden and the Kitchen Garden. By this stage of the afternoon, though, the weather was deteriorating, and getting indoors was definitely more appealing than being outside.
For the two-hour drive home, the weather was pretty dreadful, so I chose the motorway route (M27, M3, A34, M4, A419). It was slow going, with heavy spray on the roads, but in wet weather it felt like a safer option than winding back along rural A-roads.
You can see a full gallery of my day out below.
FH.
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