This National Trust property makes a lovely little outing from the village of Hadzor in Worcestershire.

I can't summarize the history any more succinctly than the website does: "From the Norman Conquest onwards, the Hanbury Estate was within the boundaries of the Royal Forest of Feckenham. When Feckenham’s royal status was lost in 1629, local families bought up land to increase their own estates -- including the Vernon family, who began building the hall in 1701. As the estate passed down through the family, the hall and garden evolved with changing fashions, and now present an impressive 18th-century country retreat."

I thought the house was lovely. Of course, it's very grand. But it's reasonably proportioned, and therefore not overwhelmingly grand. You could say it's grand in a homely kind of way.









Thomas Vernon (1654-1721) was one of the big cheeses of his day. He made a fortune as a barrister, and also became the Whig MP for Worcester in 1715:


Emma Vernon (1755-1818) inherited Hanbury at the age of 16. As a married woman, she caused a great scandal when she later eloped with a local curate. A few of the costumed National Trust volunteers did a dialogical presentation of this story, which was both entertaining and effective as a way of communicating some of the history of the period.

George London's original formal garden, designed in 1705, fell victim to changing fashions. But it has been painstakingly recreated, with impressive results:



And, of course, the park offers lots of big, bold vistas:



Thoroughly recommendable.