英城堡莊園永遠的心之所嚮

中譯／陳怡君

在英格蘭與全英國最吸引人的觀光景點中，各式各樣城堡、官邸與莊園別墅，讓人最為印象深刻。一提到英格蘭，隨即喚起的印象是有歷史痕跡的豪宅，旁有秀麗花園環繞，每間房間裝潢華麗且擺滿價值不菲的藝術作品。雖然部分英國的知名房產持續為私人所有，做為住家使用，但有許多基於維護費用高昂，不是將之賣掉、任由毀壞就是捐給國家信託。

最著名的城堡之一、至今仍是私人擁有的房舍是1096年建造的安尼克城堡，也是現任諾森伯蘭公爵與公爵夫人的住所。這安尼克城堡是英國最受歡迎的觀光景點，可能原因是《哈利波特》前兩集的許多場景在此拍攝。如今訪客可以在哈利、榮恩與妙麗第一次上掃帚飛行課的地方散步，現場還有「巫師」提供遊客飛行課程，不過「飛行」掃帚的秘密就只有城堡的訪客才知道。安尼克城堡裡危險的毒花園同樣聞名遐邇，有「全球最危險的花園」之稱，這裡栽種100多種可能致命的有毒植物，顯然來這裡的遊客都被呼籲不要在此駐足欣賞花香。

位於英國罕普夏，占地5,000英畝（約2,023公頃）的海克利爾城堡（Highclare Castle）同樣相當知名。電視劇《唐頓莊園》的影迷會發現大廳與部分房間都是拍攝地點，海克利爾四周的園林布局是由園藝家「能人布朗」 一手設計，他有「英格蘭最偉大的園藝家」之美譽。

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而位於北約克郡的霍華德城堡，雖然華麗壯觀，實際上並非真的城堡。這是一間仍為私人寓所的鄉村住宅。霍華德城堡從1699年開始建造，超過100年才完工，如同許多英國經典豪宅，許多電影和電視都在這裡取景，像是英國經典電視劇（之後翻拍成電影）的《慾望莊園》就是在此拍攝，《海盜佳麗冒險女郎》以及兒童電影《加菲貓2》也是。

許多人稱英國鄉村大宅的毀壞是「文化悲劇」（這些往往被稱做『被遺忘的房子』）。得知莎麗郡一座聳然絕美的「蒲苑」莊園（Deepdene），在1967年被拆除，改建成「多金外環道」（Dorking Bypass），實在很難讓人接受。1900年以來，超過1,200房舍遭到破壞，在蘇格蘭的數量甚至更多！許多莊園在19世紀時，為了容納更多僕人與私人藝術收藏而擴建，維護費用高到讓後人無法負擔。

20世紀初沒有法規來保護這些歷史資產，不過現在時代不同了，已有更多相關措施致力於保存英國的歷史建築。位於南約克郡羅瑟罕（Rotherham）的私人豪宅溫特沃斯木屋就是一例，這間房子有365間房間與1,000多扇窗，還是白金漢宮的兩倍大，房子大到賓客要回自己房間通常都會迷路。在私人捐款挹注與查爾斯王儲的支持下，希望這棟壯觀的宅邸能夠世世代代地保存下去。

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Home is Where the Heart Is: Saving England’s Great Estates

撰文及考題設計／英國文化協會教學團隊 Joel Finnestad

Of all the fascinating tourist attractions in England and throughout the United Kingdom, the various castles, stately homes, and manor houses are among the most impressive. The very mention of England evokes images of grand old homes surrounded by elaborate gardens, and rooms filled with ornate decoration and priceless works of art. While some of England’s famous properties continue to be privately owned and serve as family homes, many, due to the cost of maintaining them, have been sold off, demolished, or donated to the National Trust.

One of the most famous properties （still privately owned） is Alnwick Castle （built in 1096）, home to the current Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. It is one of England’s most popular tourist attractions, maybe because many scenes from the first two “Harry Potter” films were filmed there. Today visitors can walk the grounds where Harry, Ron and Hermione took their first broomstick flying lessons. “Wizards” are available to tourists and offer flying lessons, although the secret to the “flying” broomsticks is revealed only to those who visit the medieval castle.

Alnwick is also famous for its dangerous poison garden. Known as “the world’s most dangerous garden”, it is filled with over one hundred toxic plants that can kill. Obviously visitors here are urged not to stop and smell and the flowers!

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Highclare Castle is another well─known estate, a five─thousand acre property in Hampshire. Fans of the recent television drama “Downton Abbey” will recognize the Great Hall and some of the bedrooms which are used as sets for the popular show. The extensive parks and gardens at Highclare were designed by “Capability Brown”, often referred to as “England’s greatest gardener”.

Castle Howard in North Yorkshire is not a real castle. Although elaborate and majestic, it’s a country house and still a private residence. Construction began in 1699, and took over one hundred years to complete. Like many of England’s classic properties, it has been featured in film and television. It was the shooting location for classic British television drama （and later film） “Brideshead Revisited”. It was also featured in “The Buccaneers”, and the children’s film “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties”.

Many have referred to the destruction of England’s country homes and estates, （often called “the lost houses”）, as a “cultural tragedy”. To learn that the once towering, jaw droppingly beautiful estate of Deepdene in Surrey has been reduced to what is now the Dorking Bypass （1967）, is hard to accept. Over 1,200 properties have been destroyed since 1900, and even more in Scotland! Since many of the manor houses were enlarged in the 19th century to accommodate more servants and private art collections, they simply became too expensive to maintain.

While there was no legislation to protect historic properties in the early 20th century, times have changed, and greater effort is now made to preserve more of England’s architectural past. With 365 rooms, more than 1,000 windows, and twice as wide as Buckingham Palace, Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, is one current example. The home is so big that guests regularly get lost returning to their rooms! Through private donations and the support of Prince Charles （who has taken a special interest in the project）, this magnificent property will hopefully remain for generations to come.

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喚醒evoke – brings to mind, or makes one think about字面上意思是駐足聞花香，引申為放慢腳步、享受生活stop and smell and the flowers – expression meaning to take the time in life to enjoy and live in the moment – to not be always in a hurry有毒的toxic ─ poisonous and harmful to people, animals, or the environment停下來欣賞身旁美好的事物stop and smell and the roses!粉絲fans ─ someone who likes watching or listening to something such as a sport, movies, or music very much莊嚴雄偉的majestic ─ big, beautiful, or impressive in a calm and serious way高聳的towering ─ much taller than surrounding people or things不可思議的jaw droppingly – incredible; amazing繞道bypass ─ a road that goes around a town or city so that you can avoid going through its centre法規legislation ─ a law, or a set of laws

TRUE, FALSE, OR NOT GIVENMost of England’s old homes have been destroyed because they belonged to private owners. （F）The probable reason Alnwick Castle is so popular is because of the famous poison garden with over one hundred toxic plants. （F）In order to learn how the flying broomsticks work at Alnwick Castle, you must go to the castle as a visitor. （T）Most people know that the great homes of England will continue to be destroyed well into the future. （NG）Making many of the homes bigger in the 19th century so the owners could have more helping staff is the reason why the homes became too expensive to operate. （T）Identify the paragraph （1─6） where the following information is found:Expressions that suggest to us how people from England feel about the destruction of so many beautiful old homes. （5）A description of a property in England that is now in danger of being destroyed. （6）Some details of one of England’s famous old homes that still belongs to individual people – not the government. （2）A suggestion of the type of picture a person might see in their mind if they were asked to think about England. （1）An example of a feature of infrastructure has replaced one of England’s historic properties. （5）（完）

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