Owing to Blathwayt's royal connections, and his influential uncle, Thomas Povey,[REF] Dyrham became a showcase of Dutch decorative arts [REF].
The Blathwayt family owned the house until 1956, when the government acquired it, but during the Second World War it was used for child evacuees while rented by Lady Anne Islington, the wife of John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington, who redecorated many of the rooms [REF].