Holiday in Pembrokeshire: A Visit to Picton Castle

On a wet Saturday afternoon I visited Picton Castle. I got in on my "Historic Houses Association" ticket and the tour of the castle was quite interesting, particularly the way that the first room visited, in one of the corner "towers" had curved everything....windows, doors, the lot!

Once the tour ended, however (and the rain appeared to have stopped) I made a circuit of the surrounding gardens, abloom with various Rhodedendrons, and aglistening with raindrops...which was a nice combination!



Fallen trees are incorporated into the garden, not tidied away. I liked that too!

Walled garden and fernery also included:

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!

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