This blog has covered odd taxidermy collections more than a few times in the last five years from Alabama’s Mann Wildlife Learning Museum and the 19th century collection of frogs in Switzerland to Romania’s August von Spiess Museum of Hunting and the largest collection of stuffed dogs at Bítov Castle in the Czech Republic. If it’s out there, we’ll find it! And now we have another one to add to the list; Calke Abbey, a historic manor home in Derbyshire, England whose previous owner was an eccentric taxidermy hoarder. Besides the dead animal collection, the place is fascinating for other reasons. The estate, now owned by the National Trust due to death duties, is a great example of the English country house in decline. No restoration has been done and the interiors are almost as they were found in 1985 when the Trust took over. Almost everything inside has remained untouched since the 1880s (electricity wasn’t even installed until the 1960s) so forget grand interiors. This ain’t Downton Abbey, folks! Instead visitors see rooms not only deliberately displayed in a state of decline but quite literally stuffed with dead animal stuff. The thousands of specimens on display, mostly birds and insects, are in every room (and not just on walls but on beds!!!) in a nearly creepy and claustrophobic state. But hey, sometimes that’s what old houses are all about. Lots of creepy dead stuff.
Calke Abbey, a historic manor home in Derbyshire, England
