Last chance to tour former PM’s home WHAT do the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, pop superstar Sting and comedian John Cleese have in common?

They were all guests at former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath’s lunch parties – and visitors to the late statesman’s house, Arundells, in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close, can see for themselves where this eclectic mix of people dined.

Manager and curator Stuart Craven estimates that around 10,000 visitors will have crossed the threshold of the Queen Anne-fronted house by the end of the season, on October 27. This also marks the expiry of the three-year planning consent to open the house to the public, as the trustees have decided that it is no longer financially viable to extend the present arrangements.

But Stuart says that although July is pretty much booked up with tours, there are still tours available in August, September and October.

Sir Edward Heath died in 2005 at the age of 89 and, as he had no immediate family to inherit Arundells, it was left in trust. Sadly, nursing fees in the last few years of Sir Edward’s life ate up a lot of money and the house opened to the public with a deficit.

Stuart is keen for as many people as possible to see the house and contents before it closes. “It is a home that is open to the public, not a museum and there is something for everyone to see,” he says.

Arundells has been kept very much as Sir Edward lived in it, filled with memorabilia he loved, artworks (he was a great patron of the arts) and signed photographs given to him by world leaders as varied as Fidel Castro and Georges Pompidou. Models of his five Morning Cloud yachts grace the entrance hall along with pictures by tttert. The dining room has a number of John Piper paintings, including two especially commissioned for Arundells.

Not many people knew that Sir Winston Churchill could paint, but in the hall there are two of his works, one of which is bizarrely signed twice, as well as works by William Wyllie. Political cartoons grace the far end of the hall before visitors can admire the quite amazing Chinese wallpaper based on the myth of The Monkey God.

The garden at Arundells is also open to the public and is a lovely setting, backing on to the river.

To book a tour, visit the website at arundells.org or telephone 01722 326546.

* If you want to find out more about Sir Edward Heath’s political career you can read historian Philip Ziegler’s authorised biography, entitled quite simply Edward Heath. Published by Harper Press, it is available from Cross Keys Bookshop and Waterstones in Salisbury.