Shaded, Faded Elegance

 Bishton Hall in Colwich, Staffordshire is a grade two listed Georgian house and gardens.  The present house dates from around 1750 although the estate has much earlier origins and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.

From the 1770s the house belonged to the Sparrow family. John Sparrow bought the house and it eventually passed to his daughter Charlotte who added to and enlarged the mansion and built the gardens over the years.

Charlotte Sparrow was known as an educational pioneer and philanthropist.  She founded the Colwich Primary School in 1827.   She never married and lived at the hall until her death in 1876.  The Hall passed into the hands of Edward Harland, Vicar of Colwich and then Major Charles Wood who lived there until 1945.  In 1946 it became St Bede's Preparatory School.

The Orangery

The Temple Garden was probably designed and built in the 1830s, possibly by local architect James Trubshaw . It was certainly completed by 1838 when it was painted by Thomas Peploe Wood who came from nearby Great Haywood. 

 

It is thought to be one of the finest Doric screens in the country.

There is also a woodland walk and fairy trail.

In the courtyard there are several shops and Sparrow's Tea room.  As we walked around we saw many butterflies especially around the Buddleias, all too busy to sit still for photographs. 

In 2019 the hall was bought by Charles Hanson and it is now the headquarters of Hanson Auctioneers.  There are two salesrooms in the gardens, one of them in what looks like a WWI hut.

It really is a gem of a place to visit and wander around.  Both garden entrance and parking are free.  There are plenty of shady areas to both sit and walk, much needed on the day we visited.

Plas Mawr

 A few weeks ago I promised a post on the 16th century house we visited in Conwy whilst on a short trip to Wales.  Plas Mawr is on the High street in the main part of the town. It is said to be the finest surviving Elizabeth town house in Britain, a house of the golden age of wealthy merchants who invested their money in property.

It was bought by a former diplomat named Robert Wynn (1520-1598) at a cost of £200.  He was the third son of local landowner John Wyn of Gwydr. Between the years 1576 and 1585 he turned the property into a desirable, opulent residence which reflected his standing both within the town and further afield.   

Visitors pass through the gatehouse across the courtyard and up the steps to the main building.

There are seventeen rooms in all on three levels.  The first room that visitors enter is the hall.  By the time of Robert Wynn's ownership the medieval main hall had become a reception area for visitors and also where the servants would eat and where household members and tenants would gather.

I love the little details and the replica dishes, bowls and jugs

There was a dressing up area for children and hats for adults to try on.

The next set of rooms on this level are the kitchen, passage, pantry and brewhouse (photos below)

It was at this point that my camera battery ran out so any further photos are Paul's.  I had taken so many photos in the previous two days and also quite a few at Conwy castle.

The Upper Courtyard which led to the dairy and gardens.

The Upper Terrace showing part of the garden and summer house.

Above the Great Chamber.  Recent restoration work has brought the house back to life.  Some of the heraldic plaster work has been decorated as it would have been in Robert Wynn's time.

A corner in Dorothy Wynn's bedroom which, on the floor plan of the house, was called the chamber over the parlour.  Robert Wynn was married twice first to Dorothy Griffith and secondly to Dorothy Dymock. Robert Wynn's bedroom was called the chamber over the brewery.

Up in the roof.  Over the centuries the house became a court house, a school and then an art gallery.  It has been in the care of the Welsh heritage agency, Cadw since 1993.

  I coped with the spiral staircases into the roof but the further staircase into the tower was just a step too far.  I waited in the exhibition gallery where there was an interesting exhibition on Health and Hygiene in Tudor times.

 Paul did manage the stairs  to capture the view below.

Quite late in his life Robert Wynn became the member of parliament for Caernarvonshire and then, in 1591 he became Sheriff of the county.  He died in 1598 and is buried in St Mary's church which you can see in the photo above.  Apparently his tomb is in the chancel.  Next time we visit I must pop in there to take a look.

Time Out

We made the decision, given the dire weather forecast for both Sunday and Monday - yes, it's Bank Holiday again - that yesterday would be the best day to venture out. We have National Trust membership that is due to run out in July; as we can't afford to renew it we will have to let it go. So we have decided that over the next month we will try to re-visit some of the National Trust properties that are not too far away - we have to conserve petrol - for one last time. First up is Sudbury Hall.

Although very windy Saturday was actually quite warm and sunny. I always enjoy visiting Sudbury Hall as there is plenty of parking and an easy walk to the property - if you can't walk very well there is a covered buggy to run you up to the site. We took refreshments with us, although there is a tea room on site, so after a quick coffee we set out to walk to the Hall. As the Hall itself didn't open until 1p.m. we went around the gardens first. Below is a photo of the opposite side of the Hall taken from the lakeside.

Built by Sir George Vernon in the second half of the 17th century, on the site of an older manor house, it has ornate decoration both inside and out with much wood carving and ceiling paintings in the interior. It also boasts a beautiful long gallery on the upper floor with raised areas for sitting in the double windows you can see on this side of the hall in the photo above. The long gallery and the white carved staircase were used as the interior of Mr Darcy's home Pemberley for the 1995 BBC production of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' - yes, that one! As we were walking around the ground floor of the hall we were accompanied by lovely piano music. A young woman arrived to play just as we reached the music room so we were lucky to hear her.

After our stroll around the garden and churchyard we went into the Museum of Childhood which is housed in the Victorian part of the hall. It has been refurbished since our last visit and both children and adults were having a wonderful time. The displays are much improved and there is a fascinating display of three 'period' bedrooms upside down on the ceiling. As we looked up the attendant said to me that she felt old as she could remember all three eras - 1940s, 70s and 90s. After the museum we walked back to the car and found a picnic table where we could eat our lunch and then we walked back to visit the hall itself. I love the colours in the interior, the slub greens and yellows on the walls and in the bedrooms the pale green or navy and white flowered wallpapers.

Before we left we had a little walk in the village of Sudbury. There was a cricket match on the field at the side of The Vernon Arms and a game of bowls on the pitch opposite it. The village is lucky to still have a post office and shop.

And also a village school with lovely wisteria around the door. It must be wonderful to go to school here.