The first visit we made on our few days away was to Dudmaston Hall, a National Trust property near the village of Quatt which is in between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster. We always travel to places away from motorways and huge city centres if we can and National Trust properties are wonderful for stopping for leg stretches, lunches, picnics and other facilities. We'd been past this place on a couple of occasions but we'd always found it closed. This time it was open so we spent couple a couple of hours there including eating our picnic before we continued with our journey.
Apparently Dudmaston Hall has been lived in by the same family for 875 years, passing down the generations through inheritance or marriage and has never been sold. The present house dates from the 17th century and is still lived in by members of the family. Because it is still a family home photography isn't allowed in the hall but there are many surprises inside as alongside the period room settings there are two galleries full of modern art and sculpture.
We took a stroll in the gardens and down towards the water which is known as the Big Pool.
The plants and flowers down by the pond were lovely and the gunnera was high enough to be able to walk under the leaves.
The plants and flowers down by the pond were lovely and the gunnera was high enough to be able to walk under the leaves.
This is the public exit to the house, straight out under a lovely pink rose entwined with a deep purple clematis. The last exhibition just before we left was my favourite. Several objects from the collection had been chosen and put on display with a time line around the walls of both British and World events to put them into context plus the history of the family at the same time.
Shepherd's Hut in the orchard
Bright geraniums against the old brick wall
and in the Kitchen Garden
I loved these modern gates to the courtyard, they are called The Eternity Gates and were commissioned in 1983 by Sir George and Lady Labouchere to commemorate their ruby wedding.
There was a small version of this sculpture on the piano in one of the galleries.
The sculpture called Spaceframe 1970 is by Anthony Twentyman.
It was beginning to drizzle with rain so it was time to move on towards Kidderminster and Bromsgrove and our next destination.
The sculpture called Spaceframe 1970 is by Anthony Twentyman.
It was beginning to drizzle with rain so it was time to move on towards Kidderminster and Bromsgrove and our next destination.
Dave and I visited Dudmaston a few times when he was living in Wolverhampton and I always enjoyed it. I'm not sure if we ever went inside or just visited the grounds. I love those gates!
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely place, not too big. There looks to be a couple of longer walks there too but we didn't have the time to explore any further:)
DeleteHow amazing for one family, more or less, to occupy a house for more than 800 years. Not a bit fan of modern art, but I do rather like those gates.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is amazing, I wonder what the earlier houses looked like? Some of the art was wonderful, a lovely little Mattise drawing hidden away in a corner some of the sculpture was very unusual:)
DeleteI too am amazed to think of a family living in a home for so long, especially since I have moved over 15 times in my 66 years :) Thanks for showing us some of the lovely property and those wonderful gates! xx
ReplyDeleteI expect there are elements of the earlier houses captured within the present one, it does seem amazing for a family to stay in the same place for so long. I'm 66 too and have moved 9 times:)
DeleteThis looks a great place to visit, quite a few things interest the passer-by. The timeline is a great idea especially as they must have a lot of items to choose from over all those years and I'd really enjoy the sculptures as well. The gates are wonderful. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely place to visit and I forgot to mention that you can hear the 'toot toot' of the trains from the Severn Valley railway in the distance, otherwise it is so peaceful:)
DeleteAnother lovely tour. I wish I could have had a peek inside, although I do understand why photography is not allowed.
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely inside sort of ancient meets modern with aspects of a lived in home too:)
DeleteLots of lovely things to delight the eye. I like the winding steps but am not too fond of the modern sculpture - I think it looks out of place in such an historic setting. x
ReplyDeleteThe sulpture was out in the grounds with plenty of space around it so didn't look too bad, the little copy inside was up on a piano. The steps looked a bit dangerous so we didn't walk up them:)
DeleteYou take us to some fascinating places Rosie. Even though it wasn't possible to take photos inside the house you've described well some interesting examples of what you saw. The old photos placed around the grounds are a good idea and I like the shepherd's hut.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first started visiting NT properties you couldn't take photos in any of the properties now you can in most of them so it seems strange when you can't, it is usually that the family still live in some of the rooms. The shepherd's hut is lovely isn't it?:)
DeleteThis looks another great place to visit - the gardens look beautiful and I do like the Eternity Gates. I really must persuade my husband to get out and go to more "localish" NT properties - there are still so many we have never visited.
ReplyDeleteDudmaston was a lovely, peaceful visit. It was the first time we'd been and we really enjoyed it, it was a great stop off place on our journey down to Redditch:)
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