April 15-17,2019 - Bruton , Somerset

Greetings All,

We are off on a mini break celebrating Fred's birthday and using a gift certificate we got for John & Adrienne for Christmas and decided to use it on The Chapel a converted chapel in the village of Bruton. We are taking advantage of a 2 for 1 night offer so getting the most out of our gift. Our room is amazing the ensuite has a large walk in shower, a tub that will fit two and heated floor.

Our room also has a lovely stained glass window. Pictured on the right is a view of the dining room /bar taken from the gallery that would have been the main part of the chapel .  We have a very enjoyable meal to celebrate, a tasty Valpolicella Ripasso, I have Bag borough goat curd beetroot orange and walnut salad as a starter and chargrilled castle mead farm chicken,lemon and thyme aoli with chips. Fred has Laverstoke Park farm mozzarella, heritage tomato ,red onion salad and Style House farm ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce and chips . They also bring Fred  a birthday treat at least they did not sing.

We have decided to explore National trust sites in the area and our first stop of the day is Montacute House which is about a 45 minute drive from our hotel. Montacute is a late Elizabethan mason and a good example of the architecture that was moving away from medieval Gothic to Renaissance Classical. Built in about 1598 by Sir Edward Phelps

 Master of the Rolls and prosecutor during the trails of the Gunpowder plotters.It is a three story mansion made of local Ham Hill stone by a unknown architect. His ambition with the house was to advertise his lofty position in  Elizabeth I's Parliament and his overall wealth and success. It was occupied by Phelps descendants  right up to the early 20th century and then was let out to Lord Curzon. It became property of the National trust in 1927.

The long gallery as pictured on the right is 172 ft and spans the whole upper floor. It is long longest surviving long hall in England.
We are quite fortunate as the rooms off the long gallery display part of The National Gallery 16th and early 17th century portraits .
The gardens outside were fully completed in 1667. Beyond the formal gardens there are a further 260 acres of parkland. We see sheep roaming with a number of lambs. I am able to get a closeup

of mom and her baby with my long lens. Phelps also had saying carved in stone over a number of entrances to the house. My favourite is "Through this wide opening Gate None come too Early none Return too Late "Check out my Facebook wall to see more picture taken in Montacute House.

Our next stop is Tintinhull Garden which is only a 5 minute drive away from the house. The gardens were created by Phyllis Reiss in 1933 around a 17th century manor house. The gardens divided into rooms by hedges or small wall. The gardens were disappointing for us as there was no entrance to the house and being so early in the season next to nothing was in bloom. There are a number of water features but they are rather plain and boring. We spend maybe 15 minutes here before heading off to our last site for the day.

Stourhead is a 2650 acre estate set at the source of the River Stour.
We walk thru the main gates and head up to the house after having a bit at the NT cafe. Pictured on the right is 600 year old Black chestnut trees. While the land had been occupied for 500 years prior to the now owners of the estate it is the Hoare family that inspired everything we see today. The now existing manor was built between 1721 and 1725. Henry the Good died before the house was

completed and it was his son Henry Hoare II that is responsible for what we see today. His works of art he collected while on Grand Tour of Europe where the inspiration both inside and out. His ambitious achievements earned him the nickname Henry the Magnificent.  It should be noted that Stourhead is only half owned by NT as descendants of Hoare family still live at the mansion. Audrey Hoare is the 7th great granddaughter of Good Henry and is in residence when we visit.There are 10 rooms in all that are available for exploration each with its own unique theme based on Henry II's collections. The cabinet room is one of the most impressive rooms. Pictured on the right is a 16th century Pope's Cabinet
purchased by Henry the Magnificent. Colt Hoare sized his grandfathers cabinet so highly that he remodelled the room with the help of Thomas Chippendale the Younger so that the cabinet became the centre piece of the room. The cabinet itself is a series of drawers visible and hidden . The family discovered a series of miniature portraits inside the cabinet when the room was remodelled . These include a Pope and other official looking dignitaries. Check out my FB wall to see more pictures of the rooms we explored. We explore only a very small portion of the grounds as it is getting late in the day. There are a number of monuments that reflect Henry the Magnificent's travels around Europe . A temple of Flora, A Pantheon, water features and St Peter's Church. We definitely will return to do the grounds alone as it will take a good day to explore everything .

We return to the hotel and enjoy our complimentary glass of prosecco and then I have the best Bloody Mary I have had in a very long time. Their twist on the drink is that is contains fresh horseradish. They also give you freshly made veggie chips which are a nice touch. Our dinner is pizza from the wood stove ovens,I have pharma ham and rocket and Fred enjoys chorizo and mozzarella . We both have dessert Fred a rhubarb panacotta with almond crumble and I have a lemon mint sorbet. Our mini break has been wonderful. We take the road less travelled  and pass more golden fields of what I think is Rapseed.



Ta ra till our next adventure.

Sandy & Fred