Castle Acre Priory

Castle Acre is a village in Norfolk which has a number of historic buildings of interest from the Norman period  built by the Warrene family. It has a fine Parish Church, a castle and a  Cluniac Priory. 

The Priory is one of the best preserved monastic sites in the country and was built in 1090

Alas the current restrictions mean you can get into the priors lodging which you can see in the picture above. There is also an intersting audio tour. 

It is a fascinating place to visit. I can recommend visiting the priory, castle and church.

St Mawes

I had meant to be in Cornwall in April but obviously that wasn't going to happen but when it was anounced that hotels were reopening 17th May I rearranged.

The weather was a mixed bag 4 good days 2 uh less than good ! 

Here are some pics from my trip to St Mawes a pretty little sea side town that seems to have retained its charm. Perhaps helped by its semi isolation at the end of the Roseland Peninsula? 

Wrest Park

Wrest Park is a 19th century house in a 17th century landscape garden(in the 18th century the family employed some leading designers and architects (Nicholas Hawksmoor, Thomas Archer, Batty Langley and William Kent. Later the family brought in Capability Brown). The house is in the French baroque stye  18th century 

For a number of years the house was used as offices for agricultural engineering research. English Heritage took over the house and gardens in 2006 and have embarked on a major restoration programme and it is one of my favourite places to visit.

Chippenham Park

Firstly apologies for Roy for not responding to his comment for SSSOOO long. Alas mat I come under the underlying health thing. 

I missed visiting Chippenham Park gardens last year. I thought my luck was in as the season ends this week but it has been extended a few weeks so I'll get a second visit! 

Chippenham is normally only open for snow drops and daffodils as it is predominantly a wedding venue (there is a day or so in October).

It is a lovely garden, with some quirky art and well worth a visit.