Christmas at home with the Stonors

FOUR miles from Henley, amid the roaming deer and ageless scenery, nestles stately Stonor Park, which has been home to the Stonor family for 850 years. The estate boasts a rich history, with the family’s early origins nurturing a thriving wool business. Stonor family members fought in great battles and often held high office in the land. The family’s rise was swiftly curtailed by Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy of 1534 but following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, the third Lord Camoys returned to government and public life. So how does such a historic Henley family celebrate the season of goodwill? I spoke to Lady Ailsa Stonor about Christmas Day and all it entails as well as what next year holds in store.

When do you and your family and the team at Stonor start preparing for Christmas?

“The preparation starts in earnest in October, when we gather materials for decorating, including the holly while it is still in berry during October and November. We’ll then choose the Christmas tree that stands in the Gothic Hall. When choosing a tree, we look for one approximately 18ft tall and fairly narrow.

“We source our tree from one of the country’s best suppliers, the Tree Barn in Christmas Common, which provides the trees for iconic locations across the UK, including 10 Downing Street.

“We collect it in a tractor and trailer roughly two weeks before Christmas and it’s a large-scale operation to place it in the Gothic Hall. Everyone at Stonor gets involved as we have to navigate the tree through doorways and tight spaces and avoid any of the precious antiques along the way.

“Once December arrives, we place holly and other greenery above paintings and on the high ledges in the halls and chapel. The whole team gets involved, including Margaret Messenger, whose family have lived in Stonor village as long as we have. “Lastly, we create a crib for a nativity scene displayed in the chapel which is also covered with the parkland’s greenery.”

How many rooms are decorated at Christmas and are any themed?

“Despite decorating Stonor for Christmas being a major event for generations, we only opened the house for visitors at Christmas in 2017 to showcase the beautiful decorations, offer inspiration and celebrate one of the most magical times of the year.

“It all started when I saw William’s mother’s Christmas tree for the first time. It was the most beautiful tree I’d ever seen and when decorating the tree now I will always have it in my mind’s eye. I attempt to emulate the feeling it gave me for others and will pass the baton to our children in years to come.

“When decorating, we enlist the help of local florist Sue Bailey-West, who has worked on many historic houses throughout her career, so she really understands how older houses should be decorated. We’ll start work together in the spring to create a theme which encapsulates the whole house.

“In previous years, we’ve created an Enchanted Christmas and Candlelit Christmas.

“The entire team will help make the vision come to life, as it’s a large-scale job decorating the Gothic Hall, the drawing room, the blue dining room, the study, Lady Camoys’s bedroom, the shell bedroom, the library, long gallery and the green dining room.

“William’s mother’s Danish heritage also plays a big part in Christmas at Stonor – from some of the food the family enjoys to the decorations on the tree, including woven paper hearts that have sweets inside and are perfect for the Christmas tree,

How does the family spend a normal Christmas Day at Stonor?

“It all begins on Christmas Eve, where we let our children open a small number of presents, and we’ll enjoy a beautiful Danish-inspired meal with our family and our parish priest who joins us ahead of the midnight mass in the chapel.

“We normally have gravadlax followed by roast duck with prune stuffing. For dessert, we have a lovely pudding called risalamande, a rice pudding with a cherry sauce, in which is placed one whole almond. Whoever gets the almond is given a present and for some reason the priest always seems to get it!

“Midnight mass on Christmas Eve is extremely important to us and is a beautiful experience that we will all attend. The chapel is lit with many candles and decorated with seasonal greenery, all adding to the festive feeling.

“On Christmas Day, the children are typically up early and we will open stockings in our bedroom, then have breakfast and attend mass at 10.30am in our chapel, which everyone is welcome to attend. After mass, we will enjoy some drinks and canapés at midday, ahead of Christmas lunch at 1.15pm.

“After lunch we’ll all watch the Queen’s Speech and then open other presents in the Gothic Hall, moving on to games and drinks and enjoying cheese, biscuits, chocolates and other Christmas treats in the evening.”

How many might attend lunch and does the guest list change from year to year?

“Hosting Christmas at Stonor is a real privilege and something we love to do together, so normally we like to invite as many people as possible to enjoy it with us. In an ordinary year we don’t have less than 15 people, which ensures it a truly family occasion.

“Invitations for Christmas always go out to the same group of relatives, which includes our parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, and both sides of the family will spend Christmas here if they can, so Stonor House does play an important role in the wider family’s festive period.”

Who does the food preparation and cooking?

“As there’s usually a long list of people spending Christmas at Stonor Park and several celebratory meals across a few days, the cooking and food preparation is a joint effort and everyone likes to muck in. We start preparing menus in early December and cook ahead as much as possible.

“The first year William and I did this for our family was in Delhi, where we had been posted when William served as a diplomat with the Foreign Office. We had no idea how long the Christmas cake needed to cook and had to stay up until 2am to get it out of the oven. A significant part of the preparation for our Danish-inspired Christmas Eve meal takes places on December 23. We will start getting ready for the Christmas Day lunch on Christmas Eve and the turkey, which we get from the Stracey family at White Pond Farm in Stonor, will go in the oven at 7.30am on Christmas Day, in order for it to be ready at 1.15pm. It feels like we don’t stop cooking for three days.

“When my family are with us for Christmas, I love getting my brother and sister involved as they are excellent cooks and over the years they’ve adopted specific roles. For example, my brother makes an exceptional gravy, while my sister manages the turkey and ham and I look after the vegetables.

“We’re lucky enough to have a beautiful garden here at Stonor, which includes our own kitchen garden, where we’ll try and use our produce for Christmas where possible, including potatoes, onions to use for the stuffing and rosemary and thyme to season the turkey.”

What does the New Year hold in store at Stonor Park?

“New for 2022, we’re launching Drovers’ Hill, our luxurious drovers’ shepherd huts built by Plankbridge, the premier British maker of beautiful bespoke huts from Dorchester in Dorset.

“It has been great fun designing each of our huts individually and William and I have tried to think of all the things which we like when we are travelling. They even have dishwashers.

“They’re set on top of the hill in the ancient deer park and offer guests breathtaking views and a beautiful break from the hustle and bustle of life.”

For more information, visit www.stonor.com