Time Marches On

There are many unique aspects of a visit to Houghton, and a great number of surprises: one of which is to be discovered in the Old Stables Courtyard. For here resides the Model Soldier Museum, where 20,000 figures are meticulously arranged to represent famous battles and significant periods of military history.

More than 40 showcases make up the Model Soldier Museum, believed to be the largest private collection in the world. It also displays assorted militaria, including fine prints and paintings, China figures, vintage helmets, and impressive regimental drums.

Napoleon Bonaparte on Marengo, the small, grey Arabian stallion he rode in many battles from 1800 to 1815

Scenes depicted (which span from 1745 to 1942) include the Battle of Culloden Moor, fought near Inverness in April 1746 - the climax of the Jacobite Rising. There’s the Battle of Isandlwana of 1879, during the Zulu War when, somewhat incredibly, the lack of screwdrivers was a contributing factor in the disaster which wiped out the entire Warwickshire Regiment – they couldn’t open the ammunition boxes fast enough. And, over a number of dioramas, visitors are invited to look back on moments from the Napoleonic Wars: generals conferring; canons firing (complete with sheep’s wool ‘smoke’); the brandishing of bayonets and muskets; horses galloping – and falling.

Each element of the action frozen in time.

The Battle of Waterloo itself, Napoleon’s last stand, which took place in 1815, is laid out in fascinating detail: Wellington and Napoleon confront each other across the battlefield, with the famous farm of La Hay-Sainte in the centre; and we see the all-important sandpit – a key defensive position where the 95th Rifles took cover.

The Battle of Waterloo, 1815, showing key features of Napoleon's last stand

The Museum also features many other scenes, including The Franco-Prussian War, The First and Second World Wars, and parade grounds where thousands of troops are seen marching by.

A very personal collection

Houghton Hall is the home of David, the Seventh Marquess of Cholmondeley – the present Lord Cholmondeley - who lives here with his family, and The Model Soldier Museum is a private collection started by his father, Hugh, the Sixth Marquess, as a young schoolboy in the late 1920s. At that point, the pieces were given to him as toys.

Hugh Cholmondeley, the Sixth Marquess, whose love of model soldiers began as a boy in the 1920s

He went on to serve in the British Army, being awarded the Military Cross, and it was when he retired from the Military in 1949, married, and settled down to family life at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, that his attention turned again to the collection.

Lord Cholmondeley explains: “In the 1950s and ‘60s, it seems that a box would arrive every week or two. He would buy from model train shops, even Hamleys; trees and little gates and things, and then arrange his scenes. He used wool for smoke and Daz washing powder for snow.

“This time, the pieces were models rather than toys: usually made out of lead, or tin, beautifully painted, and not to be played with! Exceptions were sometimes made, however, and in time I was given a few to have at school.

 “They were perhaps ones that were chipped and I would play with those,” he recalls. “As a boy, I was fascinated with them and once a year would dust them. They were on tables in those days. I must have dusted every one in my time with a little hair brush - thousands of them. I learned what the regiments were called, how they marched etc. Father knew all the marching formations and where every figure should go.”

Lord Cholmondeley says his father wove his own military experience into the collection.

“He made this little scene in the desert of three armoured cars. Just like his troop. He told me when they saw the enemy approaching, they had to throw away their breakfast!”

And there, in case 30D, we go back to Libya, 1942. These are the Royal Dragoons, led by Lieutenant Rocksavage (the sixth Marquess). The troops are “brewing” breakfast, but the enemy is seen in the distance, so the order goes out to “sling the brew” and the party moves off.

The whole collection was moved from Cholmondeley Castle to Houghton Hall in Norfolk in 1980, soon after the latter opened to the public. It was at this point that display cases were ordered and backgrounds to many of the tableaux were painted by a talented local artist, Ian Weekley.

Over the decades, the Model Soldier Museum has welcomed many thousands of visitors, and Lord Cholmondeley tells of one particularly memorable visitor who called in to see his grandmother, the Dowager Marchioness, in the 1980s – President Mitterrand. Touring the Museum, the French leader was amused to find himself viewing Napoleon’s defeat at The Battle of Waterloo.

The sixth Marquess retained a passion for the models until his death in 1990, and his son continues to take an enthusiastic interest in the collection he has treasured since boyhood. As the scenes are safely protected in their cases, there is, however, no longer any need for him to meticulously clean each piece every year with a brush!

The Model Soldier Museum at Houghton Hall is open on every public open day. Both types of admission ticket include full access to the exhibition (ie Garden Only tickets and Full General Admission Tickets).