West Country Wanderings - Leominster

It's my birthday!  I gave myself a castle!

I had a chat with the staff at the hostel, who happily recommended a couple of places I might be interested in seeing.  The first was right next door!  Leominster (pronounced 'Lemster') Abbey is an old Benedictine priory.  I popped in to look around, and was lucky enough to hear the organist practising.  They've also got a Ducking Stool, last used in 1809 (apparently not to great effect as the woman being ducked as a scold continued to grouse away afterwards!)  It's a neat thing to see though.  I also managed to set off the alarm on the donation box!

The best thing I saw that day was Croft Castle  I went to Berrington Hall too, just 15mins down the road.  hey had some cool stuff in the house - I got to dress up like Mrs Bennett!  I'm not saying I'm a fan of the bonnet, but I did enjoy the sleeves.

Berrington had some amazing artefacts.  There's a cloth of gold dress there, painstakingly reconstructed when it's panels and parts were discovered at auction.  It was made to be worn at court by the lady of the house.  According to the court fashion of the time, the hips protrude at he sides, tripling the width of the dress!

Berington had its neatly kept charms, but Croft was by far my favourite.  I mean look at it!

Maybe it was just the circumstances.  I turned up in the sunny morning, before the house was open, and went for a walk round the 'ancient tree' route. It takes you down the hill, through the dewy fields, and gives you a long vista to the East that is really stunning on a beautiful day like that one.

I took my shoes off for a section of it, just to enjoy the feeling.  The track takes you down through avenues of huge old trees, mostly chestnuts.  They're all fat and gnarled with age, squashed down into their own bodies by the weight of their heads.  The grain in them is twisted and wrenched into gorgeous sculptural forms - two had even been struck by lightning, and lay hollowed and charred on the grass.  And they're all so wonderfully old.

Look how BIG!

The house itself was owned by the Croft family, who go back to the War of the Roses and beyond.  They're in the 1086 AD Domesday Book, and one particular couple, Sir Richard and Dame Eleanor, lived through four English Kings.  A guide was giving a talk on their lives there, and it's amazing the amount they successfully lived through, and connections to famous figures and stories they had.  Their grave is in the chapel on the grounds.

The more recent history is quite sad, with a generation losing three of four sons to the First and Second World Wars.  There are some very thoughtful memorials to the family displayed in the downstairs rooms.

At one point the owners were very taken with the wildness of the Alps, and tried to replicate it on their grounds.  The result was a downhill wooded path with a series of fishpools to stop for the view.  The house is working to restore this, but in the meantime it's still a very peaceful little stroll.  Nice to out among the trees before heading home.