22-Mar-2022
This very worthwhile destination is a short drive from West Hallam.
The grounds are quite extensive (321 acres, in fact). Whereas we'd envisaged having a quick walk round, and then going somewhere else to top up the tally on the stepometer, we were easily able to cover a number of kilometres here.
There's a castle ("gothic revival", designed by James Wyatt in the early 1800s); there are gardens (a parterre, a walled garden, a lake with various bits of rockery...); there's woodland; and there's a nature reserve.
The castle from the front
One of the many rock features
I just adore these green splodgy bushes...
The "golden gates"
The "Moorish temple"... Nothing if not eclectic, this was built around 1846 as a summer house for the then earl
The motifs (though not the chinoiserie) are repeated in other buildings around the grounds
St Bartholomew's
The former stable block and courtyard. Now an excellent venue for a coffee in the sun
The walled garden
All in all, a fabulous way to spend an astonishingly warm and sunny March morning.