Having feasted on the colour blue for the last three months, and having been starved of green, we went in search of luscious fields and majestic trees. Charlecote Park was our choice.
Charlecote Park, a National Trust property, is an extremely elegant Tudor mansion. Having gone through the arch in the photograph
we entered the courtyard, with the main house facing us
The elegant, intricate wall on the right
and these amazing, beautifully manicured yew trees on the left.
One more view of the tower from the side.
The huge fireplace in the kitchen has been recently made to work and a roaring fire was blazing
I visit National Trust properties to see and walk in the gardens. The interiors do not interest me at all, all this stuff, far too fussy, it gives me a headache. But, I like the kitchens
The river at the back of the house
Buggy - late 19th, early 20th c. An unusual coach to find in an English coach house, imported from New York, its amazing light construction a contrast to the traditional English methods. Owner driven, one horse.
A lot of changes have been made since we were last here, and one of them is the coach house. We enjoyed looking at the 19th century coaches.
Whitechapel Cart, late 19th century. General purpose/sporting cart. Owner driven. One horse, possibly two, driven in tandem.
On the left: Battlesden Car, late 19th c. Elegant lines and low body. Owner driven. One pony.
Breaking Cart, late 19th c. Used to break and school carriage horses. Coachman driven. One horse.
Spider Phaeton. Owner driven.
We had a quick game of croquet on the lawn before moving on
to enjoy some colour
one more
The Parterre
looking closer
The back of the house as seen from the parterre, where the ornate Tudor chimneys can be viewed
This is the private wing
steps down to the river
We managed to see just one deer. Tradition says that William Shakespeare was once caught poaching deer on the estate. The story goes that Shakespeare was forced to flee the area to avoid prosecution and escaped to London. Shakespeare satirised Lucy, the then owner, by casting him as Justice Shallow in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry VI, part 2.
A busy bee
The little cottage
one more view
One the way to the car we stopped to look at this gorgeous apple tree.
We once visited Charlecote in what I call our rubbernecking days when we did go into NT properties. Now, like you we are more interested in the architecture, and the gardens - which back in the 70s were rather neglected spaces. I love the topiary yews.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I recently came across my postcard of Charlecote, which I sent to a friend as part of a letter.
We are at that stage now, Olga. We got our NT membership 3 years ago for the first time, and we like to visit and walk around the gardens - it's a nice way to spend an afternoon. I loved the topiary yews too. There's a NT house near where we live, Packwood House, where a large section of the garden is all topiary and it's delightful. It's the shape of the ones at Charlecote that I find the most pleasing, though.
DeleteCoincidences seem to be plentiful at the moment....