Devon/Somerset

I spent a few day on the Devon and Somerset border only 2 weeks ago. Temperature wise it feels longer ago than that!!

Montacute was built in 1598, at the end of the Tudor period, by Edward Phelips who became speaker of the house in 1603. Later he was a prosecutor of the gunpowder plot.

Forde Abbey is a former Cistercian Monastery which is in Dorset with a Somerset address. It was surrendered to the crown in 1539 and has been converted to a private home. It has a particularly fine garden.

Killerton is an 18th Century Georgian house in the middle of Devon. It is actually a quite liveable house I think. When Sir Richard Acland gave the house to the trust he gave them almost 7000 acres as well as about 9,000 in Exmoor. That is some land!

 

Muchelney abbey

Here you can see the parish church next to the abbey ruins. The abbey dates from the 7th to 16th century and you can see the outline of the Saxon church and see how small it would have been.

The Abbots house survives and contains an interesting small museum.

Lytes Cary is a medieval manor house in Somerset. Parts of it date to the 14th century with additions being made in the century after particularly the 15th, 16th, 18th and 20th century. The chapel predates the house being built about 1343 and was also a chantry chapel.

The 17th century gardens have disappeared and today we have the Jenners Arts and Crafts garden from the beginning of the 20th century. I like them.

The garden at Tintinhull was on my way back to my B&B from Lytes Cary.

It is a 20th century Arts and Crafts garden around a 17th century house. It is relatively small but it is one I rather like.

Hatfield Forest

Hatfield Forest is a formal Royal Hunting Forest in Essex dating back to the Normans.

Olvier Rackham said that 

Hatfield is of supreme interest in that all the elements of a medieval Forest survive: deer, cattle, coppice woods, pollards, scrub, timber trees, grassland and fen .... As such it is almost certainly unique in England and possibly in the world …….The Forest owes very little to the last 250 years ….. Hatfield is the only place where one can step back into the Middle Ages to see, with only a small effort of the imagination, what a Forest looked like in use.

It also has a lake although I am not sure the lake is as diverse as it once was. It also happens to be my closest National Trust property and a nice place to walk.

Here are a few pictures 

A visit to Dorset

I spent a few days in Dorset earlier this month. It's a nice part of the country but one I haven't visited for a while. So here are some of the places I went to.

Wimborne is a small market town (15000?) in Dorset. It has the feel of a small cathedral city which is highlighted by its fine Minster Church of St Cuthburga and King Ethelred I (Alfred the Great's brother)  was buried there. The church was remodelled and rebuilt by the Normans between 1120-1180. It contains the tomb of John Beaufort and Margaret Beaufort, their daughter is relatively famous and was the mother of Henry VII.

 

Kingston Lacy was built between 1663 and 1665 by the Bankes family who had previously lived at Corfe Castle. Mary Bankes had defended the castle through two sieges before it was slighted in 1645 by Parliamentary forces

Sherborne is a small market town (9000 people) that like Wimborne feels like a small Cathedral city. 

My first stop was Sherborne Old Castle built by Roger de Caen, Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England in 1120.

Then into town

Sherborne Abbey. It has been a Saxon Cathedral 705-1075, a Benedictine abbey (998-1539) and since 1539 a Parish Church

In 1592 Walter Raleigh persuaded  Elizabeth I to let him lease the Castle estate and rather than refurbish the castle he built the Lodge which has become known as the New Castle and now just Sherborne Castle. The castle is not open at the moment so I wandered around enjoy the grounds and reading my book. There were lots of Grebes on the lake and I saw a Scarlet Tiger moth. 

The excellent Churches Conversation Trust had two local churches so off I went.

All Saints, Nether Cerne

The church is in a very isolated and picturesque position. All Saints' has a stone tower topped with pinnacles and vigorously carved angel-gargoyles. Inside is an unusual melon-shaped twelfth-century font bowl, probably from an earlier church here.

St Edwold, Stockwood.

St Edwold's is 15th century and is very small measuring only 9.1m by 3.9m. It sits in wooded valley with a footbridge leading to the tiny church and farmhouse. The porch and bell turret was added in 1636.   

I have been stuck on 891 for flipping ages on my church list! 

I had contacted the only church around here I need (well there are 2 but the other is shut and unsafe :( ) and was told it was open and someone was willing to show me around! 

I was early and the church was proudly open :)

So 892 St James, Kingston

There was a medieval church here but in the 19th century Lord Eldon decided to commission the architect George Edmond Street to design a new one. The cost of £70,000 is rather amazing! Alas the old church is now a private residence. The parish had hoped to buy it as a village hall alas...

And I was told the organist was coming up and he could take me up the tower! The views were amazing.

Corfe Castle in the distance and the island to the right is Brownsea.

 

 Corfe Castle

And my final visit to a National Trust property I have never been to! Clouds Hill which belonged to T E Lawrence you know Lawrence of Arabia fame. The property is tiny! 2 up 2 down. There is no toilet or Kitchen. Lawrence used it mainly as a place to read and write whilst at Bovington Camp. Interesting place.