Two stately homes and a Shrewsbury stroll

Tuesday the 18th of June looked set to be another day of endless grey skies. Those who are supposed to be in the know spoke of highs of around 15°C, but it felt much colder than that. I was reduced to wearing multiple layers again but even topped with my relatively wind-proof orange leather jacket and with my scarf wrapped around my neck I would be feeling the cold all day.

The journey to the day's chosen destination, the National Trust owned Erddig, a Grade-1 listed property set in a 486-hectare (1,200-acre) landscape park near Wrexham in North Wales, takes about an hour and a quarter. If traffic allows and there aren't any roadworks to cause disruption, that is, so consequently lunch time wasn't far off when we finally arrived.

We milled around the estate buildings and stable yard, browsed the second-hand bookshop, earmarking a couple of likely candidates to pick up later, and had a nosey at Erddig's collection of carriages from a bygone ages before making our way to the Hayloft restaurant to grab a bite to eat.

Next up was a tour of the house, which here at Erddig begins with the "downstairs", or servants' quarters, hinting at the unusual relationship between "upstairs" and "downstairs" at Erddig. The Yorke family seems to have regarded their servants with affection and recognized them as individuals to be celebrated and recorded for posterity. As a result, there's an astonishing number of servants' portraits lining the walls.

Hanging under some of the now silent servants’ bells is the Erddig Prayer. It hints at Philip Yorke I’s (1743-1804) horror of fire, but also suggests the concern that the family showed for everyone who lived and worked on the estate:

‘May Heav’n protect our home from flame,

Or hurt or harm of various name!

And may no evil luck betide to any who therein abide!

As also, who their home have found

On any acre of it’s ground,

Or who from homes beyond it’s gate

Bestow their toil on this estate!’

– P.Y.

We wandered along and through a series of carefully preserved rooms capturing life below stairs in the early 20th century. However, we couldn't help but notice that a lot of these were cordoned off, and thus could only be viewed from the doorway, which we don't remember being the case at the time of our first visit back in 2018.

Architecturally one of the grandest rooms at Erddig is the so-called New Kitchen, which was built in the early 1770s and was originally completely detached from the rest of the house, due largely to Philip Yorke I's fear of fire. By the 19th century, however, a linking block had been built and the windows on the north wall were blocked in to form cupboards.

The room is dominated by the large Venetian window on the east side (below, bottom right) and three great rusticated arches on the south, the centre one housing the range, installed ca. 1900 (above, top right).

A little bit of history before we proceed upstairs.

Erddig Hall was originally constructed in the 1680s for Joshua Edisbury, High Sheriff of Denbighshire, but Edisbury overstretched himself and by 1709, he was bankrupt. Erddig was subsequently bought by John Meller, a wealthy London lawyer, in 1716. He extended the house and in 1733 passed it on to his nephew, Simon Yorke. 

This began an unbroken line of ownership which lasted for nearly 250 years. The last Yorke, Philip Yorke III, died in 1978. Unmarried and childless, he'd begun negotiations with the National Trust, who took ownership in 1973 and began a four-year restoration project.

On this day marred by inclement weather, I wouldn't have minded installing myself in the cosy library and selecting a book from its well-filled shelves. I loved it that the calendar on the desk (above, top right) is correctly showing the day's date as the 18th of June!

One of my favourite objects at Erddig, however, is the 19th century shower (below, top centre and right), which worked by releasing hot water from the cylindrical tank supported on pipes painted to imitate bamboo. The water was then recirculated by use of the handpump. It was still very much in use in the last Philip Yorke's day!

Erddig's is a fully restored 18th-century garden, with trained fruit trees, exuberant annual herbaceous borders, avenues of pleached limes, formal hedges and a nationally important collection of ivies. 

The gardens and parkland were largely the work of landscape designer William Emes, who worked at Erddig from 1768-1780. Emes created gravelled walks, planted many trees which are still thriving today, and manipulated the flow of water across the park through a series of cascades and weirs, including the unusual "Cup and Saucer" water feature which we first laid eyes on back in 2018.

Unfortunately, plans for another glimpse of the latter and a walk around the estate needed to shelved  due to the unfavourable weather conditions.  As our multiple layers were no match for the blustery wind, we limited ourselves to a visit to the kitchen garden and its Victorian glasshouses.

Here, our eye was caught by a miniature Erddig fit for insects. We also took a shine to the gorgeous little thatched summer house elsewhere in the garden.

We ended our visit by warming ourselves up with cups of cappuccino and picking up the books which had piqued our interest in the second-hand bookshop that morning.

Although the temperature was on the up again on Wednesday the 19th, we were initially disappointed to be met with grey skies once more when we got up that morning. But lo and behold, Mme. Soleil decided to grace us with her presence after all!  In fact, she was already showing us her pretty little face while we were having breakfast.

We were making a return visit to Shrewsbury and, as opposed to the previous week's debacle, finding the Park & Ride's entrance was now a doddle.

We were planning to do some sightseeing rather than shopping ... so what was the first thing we did? Well, we could hardly pass by the Shrewsbury Antiques Centre in Princess Street without going in for a mooch, could we? 

We spent a happy half-hour or so browsing the myriad of stalls and needless to say we didn't leave empty handed, our finds being this vintage dress and the carved jade brooch (above, third from left). 

We then proceeded along Mardol towards the river, making a detour to Memory Lane Antiques and Vintage on Roushill, where I purchased two more brooches: the enamelled ones on the far left and right. Apparently, the shop would be moving to new premises on Mardol mid-July which must have been quite an undertaking as it is literally crammed full of treasure,

Having arrived at the River Severn, we made our way to the local Wetherspoon's, The Shrewsbury Hotel, where we ordered lunch. Mine was a small fish and chips, while Jos opted for bangers and mash, which he assured tasted pretty good but looked so unappealing that I didn't take a photo. 

Then we strolled along Victoria Quay towards the 29-acre parkland called The Quarry and the sunken garden - The Dingle - which lies at its heart. Here we sat and watched the world go by for a while before leaving at the garden's town end. 

Across the road, we spotted the distinctive round shape and high tower of St. Chad's, which was built in 1792 and is a well-known landmark of the town. 

I love the atmospheric wild and unkempt churchyard which lies at its back, its overgrown gravestones including one bearing the name Ebenezer Scrooge (above, top right). This is a prop left over from the filming of "A Christmas Carol" in 1983 but is still a magnet for tourists and locals alike.  At the time of our visit, a small group of giggling school girls was making its way towards it.

 

St. Chad's is a classical church, but one with a difference: its nave is completely round! The interior is light, bright and uncluttered. Slender white columns  made of local cast iron support a gallery that sweeps right round the church. 

The stunning Arts & Crafts style pulpit in copper and brass (above, top right), which dates from 1892, caught my attention in particular.

Apparently, the stained glass window in the sanctuary (above, bottom left) is a copy of Rubens' "Descent from the Cross" in Antwerp's cathedral, which I'm not sure the gentleman I got talking to - who might possibly have been a church warden - was aware of, particularly as he turned out to be quite ignorant about Belgium.

Before making our way to the Park & Ride bus stop, we strolled through the award-winning Market Hall and sat down for coffee and cakes in the Bird's Nest café. 

My final brooch of the day, the jewelled tree, was picked up from one of the stalls on the gallery upstairs. 

As for my outfit, I was wearing a cotton maxi dress by the London based Louche label bought in the closing-down sale of  a pop-up shop back in February. Not only did it receive many compliments, it was an absolute joy to wear.

If Wednesday's 20°C had made us all giddy, we couldn't believe our luck when the weather gods cranked up the thermostat to 23°C on Thursday.

We decided to make use of our National Trust passes one more time, ticking off no less than five properties visited, and saving us a whopping £ 54 on entrance fees!

We would be making another return trip, this time driving south of the border into Herefordshire to visit Berrington Hall, a fine Georgian mansion which sits within Capability Brown’s final garden and landscape.

Just like it did on our previous visit last year, the walled garden delighted us with its mix of glorious herbaceous borders, kitchen garden and orchard, the latter's heritage apple and pear trees standing knee-deep in wildflowers.

The wicker "mantua" (two collages above, top left) is a new addition, a reference to the property's show piece, a magnificent mid-18th century court mantua or formal gown acquired by the Trust in 2016.

After lunch at the Old Servants' Hall tea-room, we decided to stretch our legs and go for a walk in Berrington's Capability Brown designed parkland. Berrington was the culmination of his life's work. He was appointed by Thomas Harley in the 1770s to lay out a park and make the most of the spectacular Herefordshire views west towards Wales and the Black Mountains.

We selected the Red Walk, a gentle stroll down to and around the lake. Herons were nesting on a wooded island in the lake, which is home to one of the largest heronries in the West Midlands. At one point we spotted one on a gate post in front of us, only for it to fly off into the direction of its nest on the island. 

No longer used to these extreme +20°C, we needed some time to cool off before a whirlwind visit to the house proper. However, much to our disappointment, the servants' quarters which were last year's undisputable highlight weren't open that day.

Our final round of refreshments at the café was curtailed by a fire drill, even if we were among the lucky ones who had almost finished their drinks! 

But that wasn't the day's final adventure! 

Just after turning off the A489 and onto our 2-mile single-track lane which eventually takes us to the cowshed, a dead-end lane leads off to the right, with a brown tourist sign pointing towards the 12th century Myndtown church. We must have passed that sign dozens of times over the years, but had never made the effort to check it out until now.

St. John the Baptist church at Myndtown dates from the 12th century or perhaps even earlier. It is considered to be unique as a country church, not only within Shropshire but within the whole country, as it was not spoilt by Victorian restoration and thus retains its thoroughly rural, simple look and feel.

Once a substantial medieval village, the hamlet of Myndtown, which lies at the end of the dead-end lane at the foot of the dramatic Long Mynd, now only contains the former rectory and a farmhouse with its barns. Interestingly, in 1066, Myndtown had a value three times that of Birmingham!

Services continue to be held here on a monthly basis - except in March, because that's lambing season!

And then, inescapably, our last day dawned. The weather gods had decided to commiserate with us by treating us to a moody day with a considerable drop in temperature.

In order to try and cheer myself up, I was wearing an aubergine Breton top and handmade floral skirt, both of which were charity shopped in Shrewsbury.

Our plans for the day were quite laid-back and involved a rummage in the handful of charity shops in  Church Stretton, about half an hour from the cowshed. Finds were few and far between, but included the brooch on the right. I picked up its red sister at Memory Lane Antiques and Vintage in Shrewsbury last year and although I don't remember its price, it was definitely quite a bit more than the £ 1,50 I paid for the green one.

So, that was it, Shropshire 2024. I'm missing those views from the cowshed already ...

Leaving Shropshire

And so the last day of our holiday dawned on Friday the 23rd of June. 

Upon drawing the cowshed's curtains, it instantly became clear that the weather gods had decided to commiserate with us, having prepared a grey canvas of a sky and even shedding a few tears. Now, although we could definitely have done without the latter, we were adamant not to let the weather nor the inevitable last-day-of-the-holiday blues, spoil the day. 

In order to occupy our minds and fill our hearts with gladness instead of sadness, we were off to make use of our National Trust Touring Pass one final time and visit the 8th property of our two-week stay.

We even left Shropshire behind, crossing the border into Herefordshire. Our property of choice: Berrington Hall, a Neo-classical mansion about 3 miles from Leominster, set in Capability Brown's final landscape and gardens.

A steady drizzle accompanied us on our way up and still persisted while we were parking our car, so we took our umbrellas with us. I'm pleased to report, however, that they never made it out of the bag Jos was carrying them in.

There was the usual excitement about our Touring Pass at the ticket office, the person in charge taking the opportunity to explain the procedure to a trainee. 

Having finally been admitted, our first port of call was the Walled Garden, which we entered through the ornamental gate on the bottom left in the first collage. Rabbits were once again denied entry so we were admonished to make sure to close the gate behind us.

The National Trust has recently launched an ambitious campaign to conserve Capability Brown's rare surviving Walled Garden, which was built of warm red brick in an unusual horseshoe shape.

Like many kitchen gardens, it fell into disuse during the Second World War, but it still contains flower borders, an orchard of historical local varieties of apple, and an extensive vegetable plot, which continue to serve the needs of the house.

However glorious the flower borders were, it was the orchard which particularly enchanted us.

Herefordshire is historically famous for its orchards, so it's only fitting that heritage varieties of apples that have fallen out of modern cultivation have been replanted here. We loved wandering around on the pathways cut through the meadow grass and wildflowers - No Mow May had apparently been continued well into June here - and delight in the apples' often weird and wonderful names.

What about Pig's Nose Pippin, Ladies Finger of Hereford, or Maiden's Blush?

And no, Jos wasn't tired already. Nevertheless, he made sure to enjoy one of the famous National Trust deckchairs for a final time this year.

With forecasted highs of 20°C, I'd started out wearing both a cardigan and my denim jacket, but I'd already removed the latter by then, sufficiently warmed up by excitedly darting around the garden.

My denim maxi skirt from Think Twice got another outing, this time combined with a pink short-sleeved thin knit jumper (a retail sales bargain), a green wooden necklace by Les Cordes by way of a charity shop, and my beloved bargain-of-the-century Clarks Cloudsteppers.

Reluctantly tearing ourselves away from the garden - and making sure we closed that gate behind us - we made our way towards the courtyard at the back of the mansion. Here, a set of stone steps leads down to the Servants' Quarters in the basement. 

Always a favourite part of our visits to such properties, we loved exploring where the butler, footmen, housekeeper and maids worked, offering a sense of what working life was like for people in service during the Georgian period and beyond.

The wooden sink is where the maids would wash up and, according to the label attached to the tap, it was designed to reduce the risk of chipping or cracking the expensive tableware used upstairs.

I particularly loved the fascinating array of quirky old-fashioned cures which would have been kept by the housekeeper. 

Although I won't be keeping an onion as a cure for baldness, the cures for noise of the ears and giddiness might come in handy. But even if Dr. Quincy recommended the slimy juice of snails as a cure for weakness and consumption in the 18th century, the mere thought of snail water or syrup of snails is enough to make me feel ever so slightly faint!

Back on ground level, we decided it was time for a spot of lunch, so we purchased egg and cress sandwiches from the tea-room in the Old Servants’ Hall. 

After eating these outside on the courtyard terrace, we rounded the corner for a visit to the mansion proper.

Berrington Hall was created as a country retreat more than 230 years ago for city banker and businessman, Thomas Harley and his wife Ann Bangham, who wanted to escape to the country. After buying the estate in 1775,  Harley commissioned Capability Brown to lay out the park, which has spectacular views west towards Wales and the Black Mountains.

In 1778 he also called in Brown’s son-in-law, Henry Holland, to design him a new house in the latest French-influenced Neo-classical style.

There's quite a contrast between the red sandstone exterior, which is austere and deceptively plain, and the richly decorated light and elegant interior.

The interior is characteristic of Holland’s refined Louis XVI style which, not having visited Paris until after the completion of Berrington Hall, he gleaned from the illustrations in contemporary French Neo-classical pattern books.

Holland brought in the finest craftsmen: there was a specialist painter and slater, carver and gilder, and even a scagliolist from Italy. Scagliolia was a technique for making plasterwork columns, sculptures and other such features resemble more expensive stones such as marble. 

The blue marbled columns in the boudoir (above, top left and right) and those in the Staircase Hall with their Corinthian capitals (below, top and bottom right) are perfect examples.

The Staircase Hall is the core of the house, rising through its full height to the domed skylight above.

Henry Holland was a master of dramatic staircases and the Staircase Hall at Berrington Hall is amongst his most spectacular achievements. It is a cantilever staircase, meaning it appears to be unsupported, and the stair rises clockwise around three sides of the room, while the fourth is spanned by a shallow arch.

One of the jewels in Berrington's collections is the magnificent mid-18th century court Mantua or formal gown, which came up for auction in 2016. Because it was described as having belonged to Ann Bangham, wife of the Hon. Thomas Harley, it was bought for Berrington. 

The fabric is cream ribbed silk brocade with coloured silk and gold threads woven through it, and is in extremely good condition. Indeed, it may have been worn only once, probably at court, as Thomas Harley served as a Privy Councillor to King George III.

The deconstructed Mantua gown arrived at Berrington Hall in 10 pieces. To understand its construction and structure, the team at Berrington commissioned Michelle Barker of The Georgian Costume Company to make a replica, before their own conservators carefully reconstructed the original.

Several Mantua replicas are on display on the first floor, together with a handful of replicas of other gowns believed to have been worn by Ann Bangham, in an exhibition called  'A Dress Fit for a King'. 

There are dress-up opportunities galore, which obviously we were unable to resist!

Back outside, we contemplated going for one of the waymarked walks on the estate but in the end we decided against it, vowing we would come back for these next year.

Instead, we sat ourselves down on a bench overlooking the undulating sweep of grassy parkland with the lake shimmering in the distance. We were starting to feel a bit maudlin by now ...

Nevertheless, we thought one final round of shortbread and cappuccinos wouldn't hurt!

So, that was it. We packed our bags that evening and set our alarm clock for early the next morning, when we reluctantly said goodbye to the cowshed for another year.

As we'll be going on another adventure in about a week's time, I'll be starting another series of travelogues very soon. However, before we go, I'll be squeezing in another catch-up post, in which you'll be glad to note I'm slowly but surely starting to feel like my old self again.

See you soon!

To the Marches

A mixture of sunny spells and clouds was on the menu on Sunday the 18th of June, and although the temperature would only climb to a moderate 23°C, it felt humid and sticky, as if rain was imminent. 

 Fortunately, the latter only materialized when we were back at the cottage, as obviously we had plans.

Last year, we spent the in-between Sunday in Ludlow, a gem of a town just over half an hour from the cowshed. As we'd had such a lovely day back then, we decided to repeat the experience, which had included a rummage in the handful of charity shops which were open on a Sunday, a picnic and a walk.

So, after a pleasurable drive through the hilly South Shropshire landscape, we grabbed what was possibly the last parking spot in the edge of town Upper Galdeford car park. From here, a short walk brought us to the Bull Ring, where the stunning timber-framed Feathers Hotel (above), whose origins go back to 1619, never fails to halt us in our tracks.

Reacquainting ourselves with the town, which we've visited many times before, we walked into the direction of Castle Square, dashing in and out of any charity shops which had opened their doors. Although we left most of them empty handed, Jos managed to find this flashy pair of mirrored clip-on sunglasses in the local Oxfam shop.

Instead of bringing a picnic, we had planned to grab a bite to eat, but the places which piqued our interest were either closed or full, so that in the end we gave up and bought sandwiches from the local Spar on Castle Square and found us a bench backed by the castle walls.

We briefly toyed with the idea of visiting Ludlow Castle, but decided against it and just walked around the perimeter of which might be one of the finest medieval ruins in England, built by the Normans in the 11th Century to repel a Welsh invasion. After all, we're never far from the Welsh border here!

 

Hardly a day goes by when there isn't a market of some kind taking place on Castle Square. We were in luck as the Antiques and Collectors fair going on that day was obviously right up our street. It's on every 1st and 3rd Sunday, should you be interested.

We happily browsed the many stalls full of treasure, my first buys being the brooches made from old pottery shards on the bottom left. And I couldn't possibly walk past a display of vintage brooches on another stall, from which I selected the ones on the top right. My final purchase was the mystery object on the bottom right, which is a Bakelite darning mushroom!

On our way back, we passed Nina & Co., a collective shop in Church Street offering vintage fashion and decorative antiques. Here, I showed much restraint, until I was wowed by the Welsh tapestry handbag on the top left. 

The weather on Monday the 19th of June initially looked like a repeat of Sunday's, but turned out to have more sunny spells as well as a couple of showers in store for us. It was only a measly 17°C when we stepped out of the cowshed, so I went back inside to don a pair of tights. However, the mercury would eventually climb to 22°C, which at one point made me regret my decision.

We were off to Wales once more, to visit our 5th National Trust property, described by them as a "magnificent medieval fortress of the Welsh Marches". They certainly weren't wrong!

Completed by Marcher Lord Roger Mortimer in 1310, Chirk Castle near Wrexham, about an hour's drive from our cottage, is the last Welsh castle from the reign of Edward I still inhabited today.

Entrance is via Home Farm, where we sat out in the courtyard with a drink (mine a sparkly elderflower) to get our bearings. From here, the castle can be reached by walking 200 meters up a steep hill, the pathway taking you up through a wooded area. The less nimble can take a mini shuttlebus which runs up and down throughout the day.

On our way up, we made a short diversion to the recently established kitchen garden, which has a small orchard with picnic benches and vegetable plots with a range of vegetables in season that are sold through the shop.

The exact function of the semi-ruined hexagonal tower half-concealed behind trees is unknown but the most likely explanation is that it once served as a dovecote, the date of construction predating the mid-18th century.

Some potted history of the castle while we continue on our way! 

Started in the late 13th century, Chirk Castle was never planned as a family home. Instead, it was one of several medieval Marcher fortresses along the Welsh-English border, built to keep the Welsh under English rule. 

In 1282, when the English King Edward I defeated the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, he established the new Marcher Lordship of Chirklands. The Chirklands were granted to Roger Mortimer in recognition of his service in King Edward's wars against the Welsh and the Scottish, after which he built Chirk Castle in the late 13th century.

The castle then regularly changed hands between some of the most important men of the ages, usually granted to them in recognition of service and taken away again in disgrace. 

Sir Thomas Myddelton I was born in 1550, son of the governor of Denbigh Castle. With little hope of inheriting his father's position he left to make his fortune in London, which he did with remarkable success. In 1595 Sir Thomas bought Chirk Castle for £5000 with the intention of turning it into his family seat. In 1612, the castle passed to his son Sir Thomas Myddelton II.

In 1910 Thomas (Tommy) Scott-Ellis, 8th Lord Howard de Walden, fell in love with Chirk Castle, and negotiated a lease with the Myddelton Family, which continued until 1946. In 1946 Tommy left Chirk Castle and retired to his Scottish estates, dying that same year.

Chirk Castle has been owned and managed by the National Trust since 1981.

Almost there now! As it was past midday by now, we found a shady bench at the back of the castle to have our picnic of sandwiches loaded with big chunks of vintage Cheddar!

The final stretch of the uphill path circles the castle until the entrance is reached.  Here, a 17th-century stone bridge and archway lead you into a lovely courtyard, where an open door on the right-hand side beckons to explore the castle's interior. 

After leaving our walking sticks behind in the care of a volunteer - and almost forgetting to pick them up again later - we entered the ground floor Cromwell Hall, formerly the Servants' Hall.

Cromwell Hall, created in the 1840s by A.W.N. Pugin, with its curious mix of the medieval and the classical, doesn't fail to impress. 

The striking piece of folk art on the bottom left shows a view of Chirk Castle bordered with oak leaves. Dating from 1858, it was presented to the Myddelton family by William Roberts, the porter at Ruthin Castle, which was another family property. It was made by inlaying ebonised oak with delicate slivers of bone.

Contrasting with Pugin's neo-Gothic fantasy, the elegant neoclassical Grand Staircase was constructed in 1777-8 by Joseph Turner.

On the landing is an eight-foot elm and yew section of a pipe designed to carry London's first clean water supply completed in 1613 by the New River Company, founded by Sir Hugh Myddelton.

The State Rooms - Dining Room, Saloon and Drawing Room - were also created in a neoclassical design in the 1770s, but later Gothicised in the 1840’s, only to be returned to their classical elegance from the 1930s onwards by Tommy Scott-Ellis, 8th Lord Howard de Walden.

He and his wife Margherita, a fabulous party organiser and soprano singer, hosted glittering house parties in the 1930s, with Rudyard Kipling, George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire Belloc, Augustus John and a stream of musicians and actors on their guest lists. Today, the table is set out as if to receive such luminous guests, with 18th century Bohemian glasses and a fine mid-19th-century dinner service from Strasbourg.

The Saloon (above, top left and right, and bottom left) is another curious mixture of Turner's neoclassical style and Pugin's neo-Gothic. Turner's ceiling features scenes from Greek mythology, while the deep blue background and gilding were added by Pugin. 

On the bottom right is a glimpse of the Drawing Room which has similarly stunning blue and gold ceilings partnered with a sparkling chandelier. In a watercolour painting of the Drawing Room from 1862, the walls were covered with a red wall covering rather than the subdued wall paper that currently hangs in the room, which makes it somewhat plain when compared to the Saloon next door.

The imposing 30-metre Long Gallery fills the whole length of the East Range of the castle. 

One of its many treasures is the Kings Cabinet, traditionally said to have been given by Charles II to Sir Thomas Myddelton II in 1661, in thanks for his role in the Restoration of the monarchy. 

The 17th-century Dutch cabinet is made of ebony with tortoiseshell inlays and internal silver mounts with oil paintings on copper showing scenes of the life of Christ, the latter made in the Antwerp studio of Frans Francken the Younger.

The heavens, which had been darkening and threatening rain, had opened and dropped their liquid load while we were exploring the castle. Thankfully, it turned out to be only a short-lived shower and patches of blue had started to appear even before we'd made our way back outside. As exploring the gardens, and making our way towards the Hercules sculpture, which you might just be able to make out between the trees on top of the grassy incline (above, top left) we breathed sighs of relief.

But first we had a peek inside the Servants' Hall, and stopped for a round of cappuccinos and shortbread in the café located in the castle's historic kitchens on the other side of the courtyard.

One of the main attractions of Chirk castle are its award-winning gardens complete with clipped yew trees, rock garden, terrace, rose garden, pond and topiary, with  stunning views over the Cheshire and Shropshire plains. 

The gardens date back to 1657 but the view seen today is more reflective of the 18th Century when the garden and parkland was landscaped by William Emes.

In the 19th Century yew topiary, hedges and wrought iron gates were introduced, and then, under the guidance of Lord Howard de Walden in the early twentieth century, the celebrated gardener Norah Lindsay created a magnificent herbaceous border on the Upper Lawn.

Dotted around the formal gardens, there are several bronze nymph statues sculpted in the early 20th Century by Andrea Carlo Lucchesi.

Soon more clouds appeared and rain seemed once again imminent. But then we spotted what looked like the perfect shelter halfway across the lawns!

Hawk House was built in 1854 to an E.W. Pugin design. Originally a conservatory, Lord Howard de Walden added a thatched roof, to house birds of prey.

E.W. Pugin, by the way, is the architect son of A.W.N. Pugin who was responsible for Cromwell Hall. 

Pugin Jr. designed countless of churches and cathedrals, primarily in the British Isles. However, commissions for his exemplary work were also received from countries throughout Western Europe, Scandinavia and as far away as North America. We visited one of his works in Belgium, the Castle of Loppem, back in 2021 (see here).

We waited out another short-lived shower here, then proceeded towards the Farnese Hercules made in the workshop of John Nost (actually Jan Van Nost, as he was Flemish, born in Mechelen in 1655),  commissioned in June 1720. 

A striking lead figure set on a sandstone pedestal, 1.81 meters high, naked and leaning on his club draped in lion skin, he now looks out east towards Chirk village.

Hercules, however, is currently in his third location within the gardens. First of all, he was placed, a companion to another sculpture of the god Mars, at the entrance to the Castle itself. 

As part of William Emes’ work on the landscapes at Chirk, Hercules was removed from his original location to a prominent spur within the woodland of the estate. The fate of his companion statue is unknown, but overtime Hercules got "lost" in the woods, only to be rediscovered in 1983. He was installed in his present location in 1987, as an integral part of the eastern vistas to and from the castle and the gardens. 

We bade goodbye to Hercules, made our way back down the slope towards the garden and took the path leading us back to Home Farm. 

Purchases were made in the second-hand bookshop, while a browse in the shop in search of some thank-you presents for our loyal cat sitters, also yielded the felted daffodil and poppy brooches for my collection.

And with that, we've come to the end of another day. Please do tune in again for the next installment, in which we exchange country for town again, in a couple of days.