Friar Park is the 120-room Victorian neo-Gothic mansion previously owned by the eccentric Sir Frank Crisp near Henley-on-Thames and bought by George Harrison, as his new home on January 14, 1970. George's first wife Pattie found Friar Park in the newspaper. Friar Park had been a girl's school run by nuns for a number of years. The property was very run down and a lot of work went into restoring it. It has extensive gardens, caves,a lake, and water features, and one main theme to the decor: mockeries of organised religion. Among the statuary is a monk holding 2 skillet's with holes in them, and a plaque reading "Two Holy Friars". Harrison immortalised the building in his song "Crackerbox Palace" (his nickname for the mansion, after Lord Buckley's home in California). A further powerful song, The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll), was also inspired by the mansion's history. Harrison loved tending to the gardens personally, and among the groundskeepers were his older brothers Peter and Harry.
Pattie in 1970
George and Olivia Harrison
Maureen Starr
cave
(photos by Pattie Boyd, I, Me, Mine, 365 days, Daily Mail, Everyone I Shot is Dead)
8 comments:
That's an awesome place, I bet they filmmed the video for Something inside those gardens
fantastic garden pictures....what a park!
Ah Maureen and her kids, lovely :)
Women of the beatles xxx
There is a song called Crackerbox Palace (George Harrisons pet name for Friar Park) and the whole video is filmed in the gardens.
I purchased "All Things Must Pass" not long after its release and was introduced to Friar Park via the extensive photos available in the LP box. Immediately I felt a connection and some sort of strange mythology about the place came to mind as I listened to the tracks. Still evokes mystery, wonder and one of my top 10 albums I'd say. I happened upon this blog by mere chance as I was looking up Sir Frankie's bio. Cheers.
Thank you for this. Yeterday I bought the book Living in the Material World, read it in the afternoon and now, on Remembrance Day I am listening to All Things Must Pass and loved seeing all those photos.
Best to you
Denton
Fabulous -- what else can be said - the place is magical -- not of this world - neither was George. Thanks so much for posting. Just watched "Living in a Material World" on HBO and it reminded me why George always touched me so. Thanks Cynthia
http://aloveofthepast-cynthia.blogspot.com
George and Olivia have become true guides in my spiritual journey, especially since Scorcese's "Living in the Material World" came out. I taped it when it appeared on HBO last year and I cherish it.
Seeing these pictures gives me a clearer image of those beautiful gardens they worked on with such love. Thank you so much for sharing them!
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