Stourhead

I made a very enjoyable visit to Stourhead, despite the fact that the sky was clouded and the house was closed for the winter,

It was for the grounds, and the autumn colours within, afteral, that I planned the trip.

I was in no way disappointed!

Sculpture trail

During the school half term week I ventured, as did crowds of family groups, into the Forest of Dean, to walk the "Sculpture Trail" and enjoy the autumn colour (although it was a rather cloudy day)

I enjoyed the sculptures: these in particular...

Corsham and Corsham Court

The "Tour" continues...
Corsham Court is a grand looking building built up around a smaller Elizabethan manor house
by Paul Methuen in the 1700's and displaying his collection of Old Masters' paintings, and Chippendale furnishings within.
After visiting said collections on display in the ground floor rooms withing I took a look around behind the house, to quickly admire the gardens before the house closed for the day.
It has an interesting little Bath House

of which some decor details.....

Leaving the garden I took a look at the surrounding streets of Corsham, with a pleasantly olde worlde feel to them.

Bowood House

Bowood House in Wiltshire made another interesting stop on my whirlwind tour of "local" historic houses. The house itself is in fact only the remaining part of what was once a larger property but reduced to the "Little House" after wartime and subsequent delapidation. It is the home of the Earls of Lansdowne the first of whom negotiated peace terms after the American War of Independence. (I had lunch at the "Lansdowne Monument" on my Ridgeway walk back in the Spring) Interior scenes....Grounds are extensive, designed by "Capabililty" Brown

Sudeley Castle

As I had promised to myself: I visited Sudeley Castle which is a "member property" of the Historid Houses Association for which I have just become a "property visiting member" (!) but which (ironically) I had to pay full entry for in order to benefit from the guided tour. Hey ho...

Anyway, a smashing place to wander about and lots of history attatched (see title link).

The gardens are very enjoyable....

and parts of the original castle's banqueting hall are now garden features..

There is a rather nice Knot Garden designed on inspiration from a detail in the dress of Elizabeth 1 as shown in a portrait of her that hangs inside the casle.

Inside this room Elizabeth's (final) step-mother Katherine Parr gave birth shortly before her subsequent (resulting) death in 1548.

Katherine was buried in the church alongside the castle.

A view out of Lady Ashcombe's sitting room...

Lady Ashcombe's daughter, also a resident at the castle, is keen on exhibiting artworks and some of her choice of sculptures add a certain je ne c'est quois to the garden....

Meanwhile inside the exhibition the Tudors had a family reunion, courtesy David Starkey's BBC history series about them.... (ie these costumes were made for that series (!!!))


Katherine Parr's prayer book (and handwriting!)

Elizabeth 1's christening robe

Charles 1's waistcoat (his "dashing" son Prince Rupert used Sudeley as a base during the attack on Cirencester, and the King based himself her after the siege of Gloucester)Speaking of sieges.....Henry Dent-Brocklehurst, nephew to Emma Dent who then owned the castle was involved in attempting to take news, in the form of photographically shrunken letters, into Khartoum which was under seige and General Gordon was making a doomed stand.

So lots of interesting links with history at Sudeley.