As instructed, for almost an hour we twenty Society members remained silent in wonder, wandering up and downstairs and around the candlelit terraced Georgian house gazing at the perfect representation of a middle-class Huguenot weaving family, each decoration and artefact authentic of the period. Sight (every room on the four floors), sound (the church bells, the horses’ carriages) and smells (the cigars, the coal in the cellar) and the cold of the attic, stimulated the senses in a way rare if not unique in any other establishment. And then a glass of champagne and an in-depth chat with one of the curators in front of a log fire in the drawing room – expert information about the period and the history of the Dennis Severs House in Spitalfields. A first class experience and one that we will certainly consider doing again.
Organised by Sarah Sarkhel