Unfortunately our arrival was delayed by an hour due to an accident on the A66. As a consequence, most of us headed straight for the toilets and café before heading out to explore the house and grounds.

The gardens and woodland park were laid out in the 17th century. The walled garden, terraces and topiary are spectacular. There are ponds in the low garden wild-flower meadow. The woodland walk takes you past trees that are over 200 years old.

Looking at the outside of the house it is easy to spot the different styles of architecture. The oldest part of the house is the Pele Tower built c.1350. A gallery was added in the 1630s with further additions in 1685. More restoration and change took place in the 1820s. Once inside we were taken on a journey through time. We were able to view fine examples of furniture, ceramics and paintings. There are also striking examples of William Morris wallpapers. The estate hosts ‘Potfest in the Park’ and throughout the house we could also view many  contemporary ceramics.

The large walled garden was a lovely surprise, packed with a  variety of plants and interesting colour schemes. On one side of the house there are terraces containing examples of topiary. This leads to a wild-flower meadow in front of the lake. There is also a woodland walk.

A grand day out and it didn’t rain!

Jill C with photos from Eileen D, and Ian T