Day 4 Avebury, Woodstock , Blenheim Palace
We left our beautiful B&B in Bath and headed towards COTSWOLDS. On our way we are going to stop at Avebury prehistoric stone circle 1400 feet wide , there is smaller circle in the center . This place is a museum in the open , that has held an entire village inside it and roads soaring inside and out of it and that make it very unique among all the Neolithic stone circles in England. Avebury dates to 2800 BC and is six hundred years older that the famous Stonehenge and 16 times bigger. It seems that the people who built this wonderous monument were practicing some pagan beliefs. Walking around we saw many old living trees that people had knotted ribbons or threads on the branches for their wishes to come true, a kind of pagan tradition that is still practiced in some parts of Middle-East.
.Heading towards Blenheim Palace the house of Churchills'.
Blenheim Palace (pronounced BLEN-im) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and named after the battle of Blenheim.
The palace has a very interesting history. It was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his military triumphs against the French and Bavarians in the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s. It is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument.
Winston Churchill was born in this palace and they still have kept the room he lived in during his youth intact. Entire walls and ceilings are covered with murals and paintings, by the master artist including several family portraits painted by famous American painter John Singer Sargent.
Amazing collections of artifacts . The palace has a chapel and Tomb of the 1st Duke of Marlborough is in the palace chapel , designed by William Kent sculpted by John Michael Rysbrack in 1733.
The back yard includes pools and fountains and many statutes reminding of Egyptian sphynx. After visiting the palace we visited Winston Churchills grave in St Martin in Bladon not too far from the palace.
Blenheim Palace (pronounced BLEN-im) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and named after the battle of Blenheim.
The palace has a very interesting history. It was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his military triumphs against the French and Bavarians in the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s. It is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument.
Winston Churchill was born in this palace and they still have kept the room he lived in during his youth intact. Entire walls and ceilings are covered with murals and paintings, by the master artist including several family portraits painted by famous American painter John Singer Sargent.
Amazing collections of artifacts . The palace has a chapel and Tomb of the 1st Duke of Marlborough is in the palace chapel , designed by William Kent sculpted by John Michael Rysbrack in 1733.
The back yard includes pools and fountains and many statutes reminding of Egyptian sphynx. After visiting the palace we visited Winston Churchills grave in St Martin in Bladon not too far from the palace.
Day 5- Stanway House
Stanway is a very cozy and welcoming village and the Manor house definitely worth visiting. It was a great way to have a close look at the English aristocracy today. The Earl of Wemyss ( pronounced Weemz )whose family trees living in the area very well goes back to 13th century lives in this Manor house and , he opens his house to public two days a week during the summer. There is always a great local guide, very knowledgeable to make the visit very pleasant. Inside the mansion is a mix of very old objects and furniture , but everything is being used, and the place does not have the feeling of a museum. Outside in the garden on top of the hill there is a very high almost 50 feet water fountain . We also visited a water mill not too far from the Manor House. The Stanway Water mill has been reopened by King Charles ( by the time prince of Wales).
Back to our hotel and getting ready for our dinner at a local restaurant , The Kings Arm and enjoying the local musicians playing for us.
Stokesay Castle is one of the finest surviving fortified manor houses in England, and situated at Stokesay in Shropshire.According to legend, Stokesay was once the home of two giants, one of whom lived on View Edge, and the other on Norton Camp. They kept their treasure in Stokesay Castle, but upon losing the key to the castle, they both died of grief.
Stokesay took its name from the Anglo-Saxon word stoches, meaning cattle farm, and the surname of the family, who had held the land from the beginning of the 12th century onwards. It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow, on the earlier castle (some of which still survives) founded by its original owners the de Lacy family, from whom it passed to their de Verdun heirs, who retained feudal overlordship of Stokesay until at least 1317. Laurence 'of' Ludlow was one of the leading wool merchants in England, who intended it to form a secure private house and generate income as a commercial estate. Laurence's descendants continued to own the castle until the 16th century, when it passed through various private owners.
Further repairs to Stokesay Castle were required in 1902, carried out by Allcroft's heir, Herbert, with help from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The Allcroft family faced increasing financial difficulty in the 20th century and the castle was formally opened for visitors in 1908, with much of the revenue reinvested in the property, but funds for repairs remained in short supply.
The castle was passed to English Heritage largely unfurnished, with minimal interpretative material in place, and it needed fresh restoration.
The gatehouse is a two-storied, 17th century building with exposed timber and plasterwork, constructed in a distinctively local Shropshire style.
Stokesay took its name from the Anglo-Saxon word stoches, meaning cattle farm, and the surname of the family, who had held the land from the beginning of the 12th century onwards. It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow, on the earlier castle (some of which still survives) founded by its original owners the de Lacy family, from whom it passed to their de Verdun heirs, who retained feudal overlordship of Stokesay until at least 1317. Laurence 'of' Ludlow was one of the leading wool merchants in England, who intended it to form a secure private house and generate income as a commercial estate. Laurence's descendants continued to own the castle until the 16th century, when it passed through various private owners.
Further repairs to Stokesay Castle were required in 1902, carried out by Allcroft's heir, Herbert, with help from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The Allcroft family faced increasing financial difficulty in the 20th century and the castle was formally opened for visitors in 1908, with much of the revenue reinvested in the property, but funds for repairs remained in short supply.
The castle was passed to English Heritage largely unfurnished, with minimal interpretative material in place, and it needed fresh restoration.
The gatehouse is a two-storied, 17th century building with exposed timber and plasterwork, constructed in a distinctively local Shropshire style.
Enjoying wonderful Welsh cuisine and dessert.