Open-Air Shakespeare

At Hall Barn

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The Chiltern Shakespeare Company was born in Beaconsfield in 1986, the inspiration of Michael and Aviva Wiseman, who had been involved with amateur drama in the area since the 1940s. They were able to realise their dream of open-air performances through the generosity of Lord and Lady Burnham, who offered the company the use of a natural theatre area within their extensive grounds at Hall Barn, a stately home on the southern outskirts of the town.

The triumphant performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1989 launched a series that has continued year by year to entertain annual audiences approaching 5,000 people. The original house was built by Edmund Waller, the poet, some time between 1675 and his death in 1687. As a moderate, he was in trouble with both Royalists and Parliamentarians during the Civil War. He was exiled, and his inspiration for the design of the house may well have come from his association with John Evelyn in Italy and his society connections in Paris and experience of Versailles.

He returned to England in 1651 and probably spent some time recovering from the effects of Parliament’s £10,000 fine before commissioning the building of Hall Barn on land that had belonged to the Abbey of Burnham but which had come into the hands of the Waller family of Coleshill, near Amersham, during the Reformation.

The Oak Lodge at the entrance gate to the park from Beaconsfield is covered with carved wood panels, some of which are said to have been brought back from Persia by Sir Gore Ouseley who owned Hall Barn in the early nineteenth century. Hall Barn as you see it today has been returned as close to the original structure as is thought possible following the removal of nineteenth century additions and alterations. The flanking wing to the north west of the house, connected by a high curving brick wall, is thought to have been added as a stable block about 1730, but was converted just after the First World War to a large and attractive living room.

Hall Barn is particularly noted for its Grade 1 Listed gardens. Edmund Waller’s grandson, Stephen, was considered mainly responsible for employing the landscape architect, Robert Bridgeman, as well as his father-in-law, John Aislabie, to design and lay out the large wood known as the Grove to the south west of the house. This is intersected by formal rides, each ending in a temple, statue or other garden ornament, the most notable of which are the statue of Aesculapeus (Asklepios) to the south west of the lake, the Temple of Venus at the far end of the ride leading away from the ‘Great Canal’ – as the lake was called – and the Obelisk to the west of the Grove, commemorating its completion about 1740.

The yew hedges leading from the lake up to the house were probably planted in the seventeenth century and were intended to be trimmed to follow the natural contours of the yews rather than be clipped in a more rigid fashion. A further spectacular run of yew forms the backdrop to the area used as a stage by CSC. In the centre of this hedge is a ‘Gothic Temple’ that was damaged in a storm in the late 1980s, but has recently been restored with the help of a grant from English Heritage.

Hall Barn has been a member of the National Gardens Scheme since 1927 and as such is open to interested members of the public by written appointment only. CSC is delighted to continue its successful series of productions at Hall Barn this year with The Taming of the Shrew. We hope all our patrons will enjoy this ever topical and challenging favourite and that the experience will be amusing, comfortable and blessed with good weather. We remain, essentially, an amateur company and strive both on and off-stage to do our level best to provide entertainment and, we hope, good value for all. Our theatrical home at Hall Barn has brought us many happy moments and interesting connections amongst which, we understand, will be one of Edmund Waller’s descendants coming to see the play this year!

Anyone interested in joining our band of volunteers, be it as actor or supporter in whatever capacity, is most welcome to contact our information line 08700 667720.

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