Hampton Court Castle Gardens and Witley Court

[smallhobbit]

We decided to go away for an overnight stay, just south of Ludlow which gave us the chance to visit a couple of gardens.

The first was Hampton Court Castle Gardens.  This is not the famous Hampton Court, but in fact dates from almost 100 years before the royal palace.  The castle itself is only accessible on certain days, but the gardens were pleasant, although we felt they could do with more attention, and certainly the woodland walk offered nothing we don't see locally.

However, the castle is quite impressive:



and there were some lovely Hereford cattle grazing nearby:



There were some very pretty flowers:

   

The following day we visited Witley Court, which is owned by English Heritage and which we much preferred (and not least because as CADW members we got in free).

We walked through the grounds and past the lake to reach the house



In the 1890s it was a grand place, visited by the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII), but in 1937 a fire ripped through one wing and destroyed the house, leaving it as a ruin.





There's an impressive fountain



And some beautiful gardens



(Apologies for the strange angle of the photo)

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Nice! A beautiful setting!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much :)

[adafrog]

Very pretty.

[debriswoman]

Lovely…and quite eerie….

[smallhobbit]

Thank you.

[smallhobbit]

Oh yes, you get to wander round the inside of the building and mentally populate it with ghosts.

[thepowerofdeath]

I am going to sit here with hearteyes at that castle! The whole place looks stunning

[smallhobbit]

I suspect the outside is more impressive than inside. It was bought in the 1990s by an American millionaire, who has influenced the furnishings. However, the crenellations date to 1434 so that is rather more authentic.