A Popish Plot in Twickenham Contains a Popish Grotto, Finds Griselda Heppel
Radnor House School, Twickenham It’s extraordinary what you can find in a school. I don’t mean the usual collection of classrooms, gym, assembly hall, dining room, with a scattering of lost trainers, sweatshirts, bald tennis balls and trodden on pieces of paper. It’s quirks of architecture that appeal to me. When a school is made up of a jumble of old buildings, all from different historical periods, the scope for hidden doors, secret rooms and passage ways is extremely appealing (as you might tell from the way these elements crop up in my books, taking my poor heroes on terrifying journeys). Until a week ago, I thought I knew the limits you could go to with a school’s environment without losing all sense of realism and thereby your readers’ suspension of disbelief; but then a week ago I’d never heard of Radnor House School. Alexander Pope's villa. Engraving by Nathanial Parr from 1735 painting by Michael Rysbrack Radnor House is an attractive 19th century red brick building in T...