Redcliffe Southern Times
REDCLIFFE PLANTATION
181 REDCLIFFE RD
BEECH ISLAND, SC 29842
(803) 827–1473
Special British Issue!!
V O L U M E
UPCOMING
EVENTS AT
REDCLIFFE.

8 ,
I S S U E
J A N U A R Y
7
2 0 1 4
Redcliffe vs. Highclere Castle
The African-American
Experience: Health &
Medicine
Sat, Feb 15
$6/Adult, $5.25/SC
Senior
For more information on
these programs please contact the park.
Park Staff
Park Manager
Joy Raintree
Park Interpreter
Elizabeth Laney
By the Numbers
Many southern plantation homes were built to mimic the grand country homes of the English aristocracy and their lifestyle, capturing the grandeur of the cavernous homes, large staffs and sprawling estates. How does a southern plantation stack up against a real country estate though? To answer that question we decided to contrast Redcliffe Plantation with Highclere Castle, the wellknown estate where PBS’s critical drama Downton Abbey is filmed.
Redcliffe Plantation
.
Highclere Castle
Park Technician
Doug Kratz
Home to the Hammond family
from 1855 - 1975 (120 yrs)
Home to the Earl of Carnavon
and his family since 1669 (345 yrs)
A Special Note
on Inflation
Acres: 369 acres of parkland
Landscape designed in 1850’s by Belgium
landscape architect Louis Berckmann
Acres: 1,000 acres of parkland
Landscape designed in 1774 by English landscape architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown
In the inflation of
January 1947 these
Greek Revival home completed in 1859
Jacobethan home completed in 1878
Square Feet: App. 13,000
Number of Windows: 84
Square Feet: App. 120,000 of livable space
Number of Windows: 300
prices fill me with
impotent rage:
Public Rooms: 4
Public Rooms: 8
A four-rib roast beef $12.50
Entrance Hall/Ballroom, Parlor,
Library & Dining Room
Washing our apart-
Average Ceiling Height: 14 ft
Tallest Ceiling: 16 ft
Average Ceiling Height: 16 ft
Tallest Ceiling: 50 ft
Books in Library: 2,000+
Books in Library: 5,000+
ment windows - $15.00
Dry cleaning a suit $2.40
Washing a plain white
shirt - .36 ¢
John S. Billings Scrapbook #49.
Bedrooms: 5 - 7
Entrance Hall, Saloon, Dining Room, Library, North
Library, Music Room, Drawing Room, Smoking Room
Bedrooms: 60 - 80
The South is perfectly competent to go on, one, two, or three years without planting a seed of
cotton… What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years? I will not stop to depict
what every one can imagine, but this is certain: England would topple headlong and carry the
whole civilized world with her, save the South. ~ Hammond’s “Cotton is King” speech, 1858
Hammond Abroad in the British Isles, 1836-1837
“Let it not be supposed that I am
dazzled by Warwick Castle & ready
to stop before a titled aristocrat… I
am still as proud a freeman as ever,
& except in mere outward circumstances feel myself the peer of any
nobleman…”
Birth of an Era
Hammond visited the
British Isles twice during his Grand Tour of
Europe in 1836-1837, at
the beginning and ending of his journey.
James H. Hammond at Warwick Castle,
Warwickshire, England, August 11, 1836.
During his second visit
to Britain in June and
July of 1837 King
William VI died and his
niece Victoria was
crowned Queen of
England.
“There was something unseen, but I
know not what… It would take days
& weeks to familiarize me with the
spirit of the place which alone could
satisfy me.”
It was the birth of the
Victorian Era.
James Henry Hammond at Abbotsford, home
of Sir Walter Scott, Galashiels, Scotland, July
21-22, 1837.
Artifact of the Month – Library Busts
Pericles, Cicero, Alexander the Great,
Julius Caesar, Brutus, Raphael,
William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott,
John Calhoun, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Clay
all gaze benevolently down upon the 2,000+ book
library from their lofty perch atop the 12’ high
carved sycamore bookshelves—silent witnesses to
155 years of history at the plantation.
Ten plaster busts* featuring the likenesses of some of the world’s greatest leaders, philosophers and writers were supposedly purchased specifically for Redcliffe’s library by Harry Hammond during his trip to Europe in 1855. Several of the
statues were of men whom James Henry Hammond had a great admiration for including the Greek philosopher Cicero,
the great Scottish author Sir Walter Scott and Hammond’s fellow South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun. Although
all ten busts still sat in the Library as of 1935, at least two statues were broken in the mid-late 20th century (Henry Clay &
Raphael) and the location of the bust of John C. Calhoun is undetermined.
Most of the busts are cheap replicas of famous busts - they could be purchased at little expense to the tourist at museum
shops or galleries. The busts of Sir Walter Scott and William Shakespeare, the lone representatives of the British Isles, sit
together at the Southern end of the library. The bust of Sir Walter Scott is a copy of Sir Francis Chantry’s 1820 bust of the
famous writer. The bust of William Shakespeare is a copy of a piece attributed to sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac
known as the Davenant Bust.
* There are 12 statues in the library today including 7 of the original 10 plaster busts, a bronze bust of George Washington, a bust of James Henry Hammond and a marble bust of Hammond’s eldest daughter Catherine “Catty” Hammond Gregg McCoy.