50 DIGS.NET
| 12.2.22
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witnessed and withstood—among other
tentpoles of medieval history—the Norman
Conquest, the Wars of the Roses, and an
advancing Spanish Armanda.
"Whilst the island has changed, these
changes have been slow over the centuries
and remains a constant and important land-
mark in an ever-changing world," explains
Steven Michell of St. Michael's Mount. One
of the main changes concerns the castle
itself, whose last major addition—its East
Wing—came in the 1880s, introducing
Victorian apartments, fine plaster relief and
Chippendale furnishings. "Wander through
centuries-old corridors and unpeel layers
of history, with shades of the past to be
found in each room and new discoveries
about the Mount's history waiting around
every corner," says Mitchell, describing
the experience. One such discovery is
the stately Chevy Chase room, which was
created sometime between the late 16th
and mid-17th centuries and whose name,
which is familiar to Americans as the actor,
in fact references a medieval ballad and
hunting scenes in the plaster frieze. Other
touchstones of ancient times at the site
case of HBO's House of the Dragon, which
casted the whole historical pile for the
show's fictional setting Driftmark). A medi-
eval construction can, after all, be counted
on to stir even the most jaded imagination,
particularly in a digital age where the
competition for attention is especially avari-
cious. A castle is as solid and steadfast as
it is spectacular and the same is true of
the one at St. Michael's Mount, which has
