National Trust.
Not an ancient house, but built in the 1920’s for the D’Oyly Carte family, Coleton Fishacre is built of local Dartmoor shale and roofed with slate, and with its straggle of roofs it fits unobtrusively into the landscape. Inside, all is Arts & Crafts and Art Deco in style, and much use of limed oak and pine. At the west end of the house is a saloon 40 feet long, and furnished in yellow and green.
The interior is interesting, as all the rooms are furnished as though the 1930’s inhabitants had just left. Outside is a large 30-acre garden planted on a steeply sloping site, with many semi-tropical plants and flowers, and glimpses of the sea.
Access to the site is by a single-track road (“reversing required”) and roads in the area are narrow. There are other attractions in the area for walkers.
Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire
A fortified house dating in parts from the 12th century, and altered, extended or remodelled many times since. It is constructed mainly of ironstone. The interior contains a number of grand rooms and the small ‘Council Chamber’ contains relics from the Civil war period. The current occupants are Lord and Lady Saye & Sele who have done much to preserve the house and record its history. They maintain a website which contains a great deal of information about the castle’s history, and a pictorial tour. As the owners are not shy of pointing out, the house gets five stars in “The Thousand Best Houses of England”.
This is an interesting place to visit, as one enters across a moat, through a gatehouse and then follows a route around the house though an ancient arched undercroft, grand rooms, staircases, corridors, and into small upstairs rooms and IIRC a rooftop. Outside, there are some attractive gardens. I must have liked it, judging by the number of photos I took.
Brougham Castle, Cumbria
English Heritage.
Brougham Castle , built of reddish stone in a picturesque setting beside the crossing of the River Eamont in Cumbria, was founded in the early 13th century. This great keep largely survives, amid many later buildings – including the unusual double gatehouse and impressive ‘Tower of League’. The castle was both a formidable barrier against Scots invaders and a prestigious residence, and welcomed Edward I in 1300.
Much of the structures survive, with the dressed stone cladding largely intact. A complex of passages and spiral stairways makes Brougham a fascinating castle to explore, as well as an ideal picnic setting for a family day out. The keep top provides panoramic views over the Eden Valley. The relatively complete state of the structures, and the attractive green settng, make this a worthwhile and pleasant place to visit. There is an exhibition about Lady Ann Clifford.
Opened daily. Admission charge. The castle shares a guidebook with Brough Castle, a few miles away. Access is from Moor Lane.
Brough Castle, Cumbria
English Heritage.
Brough Castle stands on a ridge commanding strategic Stainmore Pass, on the site of a Roman fort. Its towering keep, frequently the target of Scots raids, dates from about 1200. More comfortable living quarters were later added by the Clifford family, only to be accidentally burnt following a ‘great Christmas party’ in 1521. Like so many other castles hereabouts, Brough was restored in the 17th century by the Lady Anne Clifford, traces of whose additions can still be seen.
St Michael’s Parish Church, in pretty Church Brough near the castle, displays an exhibition about the region.
The castle is much ruined, though the keep stands to some height. Inside the curtain walls there are various structures to look at.
Opened daily, no admission charge. The castle shares a guidebook with Broughton Castle, a few miles away.
Wrest Park, Beds.
English Heritage.
This is one of the great gardens of England, but is one of the least well known. The grounds and formal gardens cover about 90 acres, with a number of garden buildings and follies, and miles of pathways. At the further end of the canal is the domed Great Pavilion, designed by Thomas Archer in 1709-11.
The Wrest Park mansion was designed by Thomas, Earl de Grey, in a French style, and completed by 1839. Several important rooms in the house are usually open to the public: the great entrance hall, and a suite of rooms on the garden side ground floor.
Most of the garden buildings, inclding the Orangery, were built at about the same time as the house.
There is plenty to see and do, and for 2013 there is a new visitor reception and parking in the former walled garden, and a new exhibition area and Countess’s Sitting Room in the house. Just checking all the buildings in the gardens should keep one occupied for at least a couple of hours. The house, outside and inside, is also of interest, and the grand entrance hall should not be missed. The grand rooms on the garden side are largely unfurnished.
Totnes Castle, Devon
English Heritage.
This was a classic Norman motte and bailey castle, founded soon after the Conquest to overawe the Saxon town. A later stone shell-keep crowns its steep mound, and gives sweeping views across the town rooftops to the River Dart. The shell-keep wall is in a fair state of preservation, as can be seen in stock photos.
Apart from the view, there’s not a large amount of things to look at, but the circular shell keep itself looks rather iconic. You’d think that a castle on a high mound would be easy to spot, but if I remember correctly I had a lot of difficulty finding it, because the crowded old buildings block any view of it from street level. If you don’t have any luck with brown signs, find a good street map and track it down with that. The old centre of Totnes is not car-friendly so if you arrive by car it would be best to park it in a car park on the edge of the town centre and continue on foot. When I was last there, it was possible to drive up the length of the old high street and under the building that spans the street, but I really wouldn’t recommend it! Also, the exit from the top of the high street onto the ring road is hazardous, because of poor visibility and high-speed idiots.
Other EH castles are in the same area of South Devon.
Stonehenge, Wilts.
English Heritage.
One of the iconic English monuments. It is easily found at the A303/A344 junction and you could make it a stop en route to the south-west. There have been plans to expensively re-work the surroundings and visitor access, but when I visited in 2007, one had to park across the road from the stones in the EH car-park, and then cross under the road via a tunnel. One could walk around the stones in a circle but not walk amongst them. The site is open daily. (Admission charge) A free audio tour is available.
Druid myths apart, the site is impressive, the standing stones are colossal and the prehistoric workmanship amazing. A number of fallen and unstable stones were re-erected in the 20th century to restore the circle to more like its ancient complete form.
The ancient monument enthusiast will find other monuments in the same area.
Rushton Hall, Northants.
Rushton Hall is a most impressive place built around a square central courtyard. It dates from 1438, but much of the present structure seems to be Victorian. It’s now an up-market hotel, but they don’t mind visitors having a look at the public rooms (on the ground floor facing the water), and if you ask in the bar, they’ll probably give you a booklet about the history of the place. If you have a serious interest you could contact the general manager about your visit in advance. The public room interiors and ceilings are quite impressive, as is the courtyard. The bar, housed in what was the great hall, with stained glass windows, is the most impressive room. The house changed hands in 1853 for £165,000, at a time when the average dwelling cost several pounds, but it was sold in the 1950’s for £1.
The hotel reception is to the left of the main entrance, and the public rooms and bar are further on in the same direction. The drinks, predictably, are expensive 🙂
It seems there are some public access days: Hotel website.
Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northants.
English Heritage.
This strange triangular building was designed by Sir Thomas Tresham, and constructed between 1593 and 1597. The number three is apparent everywhere in the design, with three floors, trefoil windows, and three triangular gables on each side. It is open several days a week in the warmer months.
I navigated to the location using sat-nav. It’a a curious building and worth a visit if you are in North Northants. The Lodge was formerly part of the Rushton Hall estate, the Hall being about a mile away. The Hall, now a hotel, is worth seeing.
RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall
It’s wise to arrive in good time for the tour so that you can get signed up in time for departure. The high point of the tour I went on was going inside a huge hangar where helicopters were being maintained. It was all really interesting.
