England Trip: Charlecote Park (15th July)

Charlecote Park

On Saturday, we went to Charlecote Park near Stratford-upon-Avon, which is why Shakespeare is said to have been caught poaching on the estate. This is one of our big recommendations from the trip. The main buildings are exquisite and the interior of the Great Hall is stunning. Charlecote is truly one of the great Elizabethen houses.

The house has several other famous associations as well as Shakespeare. Firstly, the Lucy family who have owned the house for 700 years are influential in their own right. Interestingly, Thomas Lucy I pursued recusant Papists in the area, of which we were to find there were many associated with other NT properties in the area.

Queen Elizabeth I slept here while returning from a visit to Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester and her favorite, at Kenilworth.

John Foxe, the author of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, stayed at Charlecote as the tutor of Thomas Lucy I. He wasn't much enamoured with it and had the following statements to make about it in his day: "It is deserted on every side, shut off by hills and thickets from almost all light and society of man. Also it has a river by it, whose waters are at all times nearly stagnant, save that once in the year it washes the house itself, as the Nile washes Egypt." His guestroom was also "a chamber smelling so strong of the sewer that its occupant needs to have his nose cut off."

There is an interesting knot garden beside a classic English river view of the Avon, which runs along it. In addition to this, there is a colourful herbaceous border, a butterfly-covered lavender walk and a charming 'sensory' garden.

The parklands and drive are very impressive, and the grounds were redesigned by the great landscape gardener, Capability Brown in the 18th Century. The nearby church buildings and village are also very picturesque.

The property was certainly very popular with a lot of people, from the crowds that were there and the size of the car park. There was also a very good plant shop attached, although the prices were a lot higher than we would get in N.I.

See a photo album of this trip here: