This was another hot day, so we had another day out, this time to Wakehurst Place, Kew's country estate, but also belonging to the National Trust. This time, I started off with the postcode so there was no danger of getting lost down any more farm tracks.
Once we were in and through the Visitors' Reception building, we were welcomed by this beautiful display of cyclamen. My photograph, like so many of those I take, does not really do justice to the sea of purple, pink and white spread out in the shade of the huge trees.
We hadn't visited the mansion the last time we came, so that was our first port of call. There are written records of a tenant of the estate stretching back to 1205, and archeological evidence dating much further back, right back to evidence of pre-Roman occupation. The current house dates to 1590, and is associated with the Culpepper family, distant relatives of Nicholas Culpepper the Herbalist.
Inside there are 5 unfurnished rooms you can visit, some of them panelled. The plaster Jacobean ceiling in the main hall is the most decorative I think I have ever seen. This is a wonderful Jacobean fireplace in one of the rooms.
The garden covers some 2 square kilometres (500 acres) and includes walled and water gardens, woodland and wetland conservation areas. It was largely created by Gerald Loder (later Lord Wakehurst) who purchased the estate in 1903 and spent 33 years developing the gardens.
As the gardens are so extensive, you can wander for hours. A good deal of it is woodland, but there are more than 50 acres of formal gardens, and several lakes. This is one of them. It was a lovely sunny clear day, and there was little wind, so you can see the reflections in the water. It will probably even more beautiful in a few weeks, with the autumn colours reflected in the water.
We descended into the valley, following a stream which has been used to form a number of different gardens, including another water body and waterfall surrounded by Japanese irises, maples and rhododendrons.
Below this there is an Iris Dell and a collection of beds known as the Water Garden. Here, small streams and narrow wood-chip paths meander among the plants, and we wandered for a long time. From the Water Garden the stream continues on into Westwood Valley. There is a lake on the valley floor, but it is under renovation at present.
We returned by a slightly different route, admiring the many huge trees, but I was rather too tired by then to want to wander in the Himalayan Glade. This area represents the mountain flora of the Himalayas and China. The guidebook says 'the valley sides are defined with blocks of Ardingly sandstone' and you can see one of the blocks in my photo, set amongst the trees.
By the time we had returned to the Visitor Reception area, it was closing time again. Fortunately, it is not a terribly long drive home, and the countryside is very attractive so the drive is interesting if you can avoid the main roads.
No comments:
Post a Comment