Saturday 13 June 2015

Kentchurch Court

The Scudamore Bear
Leaving the Laskett Garden our travels took us deeper into Herefordshire to Kentchurch Court nestling under Garway Hill in the Monnow Valley.
The Lucas-Scudamore family have lived here for almost 1,000 years
The house dates from the 14th century, but the family trace their roots back to 1042 when Ralph Scudamore came to Herefordshire from Normandy and built a castle in Ewyas Harold for Edward the Confessor
Deer roam the surrounding parkland
Kentchurch Court is an English C14 fortified manor house sitting in five thousand acres close to the Welsh borders. In 1795 the interior of the house was modernised in the Gothic Style by John Nash using a schedule of designs put forward earlier by Anthony Keck.  In 1820 Thomas Tudor completed the alterations by adding a new front door and a barrel vaulted ceiling to the hallway
Lunch was taken beneath the watchful eyes of some Scudamore ancestors - there was also some fine Grinling Gibbons wood carving to admire.
First and foremost Kentchurch Court is a family home run by Jan Lucas-Scudamore, the very welcoming and friendly owner. She took us on a private tour of the house, but had to abandon us towards the end leaving us in the very capable hands of her young daughter and baby grandson
Strolling around the grounds and gardens I reflected on how wonderful the flowers have been this year. Even roadside verges resemble colourful herbaceous borders
All gardens, my own included, are filled with Aqualegias showing off their many different hues from white through to deepest purple. What promiscuous but pretty little flowers they are busily seeding themselves everywhere!
The Kentchurch walled gardens held a huge varied of colourful flowers all jostling for attention 
A Gothic Perpendicular window on the far side of the house floods the interior hallway with light
Across the lawn a pathway leads into a Rhododendron wood which then goes down to a tributary of the Monnow river
A Flame/Fire Tree grows in the woods
I am not very familiar with these trees but believe this one is Embothrium coccineum - Chilean Fire Tree
It would have been lovely to walk down to the river
but it was time to take our leave

47 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous place, both the building and garden. Really beautiful
    To think someone can look back 1000 years, beyond belief.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Hugs

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    1. Can you imagine all of the possessions that they have collected and acquired over 1000 years! - I find it is hard enough coping with four generations of stuff.

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  2. You have such wonderful estates with beautiful gardens in the country.

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    1. This one is a little bit off the beaten track, we travelled down some very narrow steep country lanes to reach it.

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  3. Oh Rosemary, I do like that Manor and the garden, love the Granny a Bonnets...

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    1. It all sits in a very beautiful location - very quiet, and well away from any hustle and bustle

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  4. Hello Rosemary, This is more my type of place, old stone walls with lots of greenery, and a few spots of color to brighten it up. This is a garden to relax and be comfortable in.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - I thought that this might be more appealing to you. Two contrasting places in one day made for an interesting day out though.

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  5. I always enjoy receiving a free tour of England when I come to your blog!

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    1. Hello Debra - do you think that I should start charging a fee???

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  6. Oh those iris! Oh the wisteria! Thank you for sharing Rosemary.

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    1. Wisteria and irises are other plants that have flourished and flowered so well this year too

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  7. Thank you for the tour. I love these posts.

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    1. Thank you for your very kind comment Catherine

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  8. Another absolutely gorgeous place I've never heard of. Love manor houses and the gardens are too beautiful for words.

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    1. I sometimes think that if I visited all the houses and gardens that I have not already been to every day for the rest of my life I would still not get round them all

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  9. What a beautiful garden with some gorgeous plants too. I particularly like the wisteria over the gate arch, that looks lovely doesn't it. xx

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    1. It is a lovely place Amy situated in an idyllic spot and right off the beaten track.

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  10. Dear Rosemary - Your portrait of that iris is stunning! Such an elegant flower!! Enjoyed this tour of Kentchurch. A few years ago, I visited Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire.....not too far from Wales. I wonder if that is near Kentchurch?

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    1. Dear Loi - there are some stunning bearded irises and this one had a very unusual colour combination. I haven't really gone in for irises in my own garden apart from the smaller, simpler ones which tend to naturalise themselves around our pond.
      Hampton Court Castle is north of Hereford, and Kentchurch is about the same distance from Hereford but southwest e.g. they are about 35 miles apart.

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  11. Your photos capture the flowers and the buildings and grounds very well. I like the dramatic Scudamore Bear, and your round photos of flowers.

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    1. Thank you I am pleased you like seeing the building and grounds. If you are interested you can make your own round photos on 'picmonkey'

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  12. A magnificent manor, and the garden with all the flowers is a real treat . Always love Aquilegia because they so unpredictably pop up , and the Chilean fire tree is a real stunner, never saw one before !

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    1. I haven't seen one in the UK before, but curiously after I saw this one I saw another growing in a different part of the country - I don't think that these would have grown in the UK 50 years ago, may be it is global warming!

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  13. Sooooooooooo beautifu! Lovely Aguilegias. Everything is so lush and green and blooming. Looks wonderful to me. Happy Sunday, Rosemary.

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    1. Pleased that you enjoyed the garden Satu

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  14. Another wonderful country home - I did enjoy seeing Kentchurch Court. It is amazing to me that they can trace their family back to 1042, almost a thousand years! The variety of pretty summer flowers is amazing - I have not heard of Aguilegias, but they are very pretty. We have flame trees around our city, which look just like this one - although I'm not sure if it is the same variety. They look very dramatic when in flower. Another lovely post, Rosemary.

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    1. Can you imagine 1000 years of possessions Patricia - it is bad enough with two or three generations of stuff.
      When I looked on Google at Flame/Fire Trees I was surprised at just how many different varieties there are. The climate must definitely have changed with all of these exotics growing happily in the UK now.

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  15. Dear Rosemary - How good to know that such a grand house is still occupied by the same family, and indeed, for all its grandness, it looks quite liveable. The Scudamore Bear reminded me that it was Oliver Cromwell who sytematically rid England of all its bears.

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    1. Dear Mark - It is true that Oliver Cromwell was responsible for the banning of bear baiting but they were imported from other parts of Europe. Our own native Eurasian bears became extinct around 1000AD due to over hunting i.e. around the time that Ralph Scudamore arrived here from Normandy.

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  16. A thousand years of history. Gosh Rosemary, it blows one's mind. And to think that the same family are still in the same home.
    The house standing practically alone ..with the gardens away from it. I like that. The cupid flower pots with just a few tulip bulbs and the lovely walks. I am sure that you had a wonderful day visiting Scudmore house and garden.
    val x

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    1. It must be strange to look at your walls covered in ancestors going way back, and to know that they walked the same corridors and slept in the same bedrooms so long ago.

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  17. Dear Rosemary, thank you for this lovely post! I'm just back from NY and then from Crete (where I had the great luck to meet a very charming English couple from Herfordshire - so your post was double interesting to me). Next time more - I have to read so many blogs at the moment, that's why I keep it short. Britta X

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    1. Dear Britta - so pleased to learn that you have returned safely and happily from all of your sojourns to NY and Crete too.
      Herefordshire is a lovely county with lots of interesting gardens and houses to visit.
      We have our suitcases ready to go as we are off to Paris this coming week.

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  18. Rosemary - lovely post again and your photo's are so good to look at and enjoy.

    Aqualegias ... perfect.

    Hope your Sunday is going well

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan - you have just made my day - having just spent 3 hours cleaning the inside and outside of the car I now feel ready to enjoy the rest of Sunday.

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  19. I can't imagine one family living in one place for so long - but the house has stood the test of time quite beautiful in its plainness with a lovely garden to boot. In your third photo down I thought the pink in the bottom corner was a flock of flamingos standing on one leg till I realised they were tulips. Silly me!

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    1. yes, I became aware on my return home that those few tulips kept popping up all over the place in my photos!

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  20. What a fabulous statley mansion, and amazing that the family has been able to keep it in the family that long. Your pictures, as always, are beautiful. janey

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    1. Thank you Janey for your kind comment re photos - imagine having all those generations of possessions over such a long period and seeing your ancestors looking down at you on a daily basis.

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  21. A beautiful place to visit Rosemary! The gardens look spectacular. My daughters and I will be leaving for the Peak district and the North York moors in about a month. Do you perhaps have any suggestions of gardens to visit?

    Have a lovely week!

    Madelief x

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    1. Dear Madelief - I am off to Paris on Wednesday but I will email you some ideas when I get back. Do you just want gardens, or houses and gardens, and what about walks and places of particular interest? The Peak District I know well, it was where I was born, and I have done several posts on the area which might be of help to you. All the best I will be in touch before you leave for your trip♡

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  22. O my Rosemary, such a beautiful, beautiful garden again! What a treat it must be to visit it and see all those wonderful flowers and plants. Thanks so much for letting us enjoy this garden and its surroundings, which are also so amazingly beautiful again, through your wonderful pictures. I so love this! So hope to visit a garden like this myself one day.
    Marian

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    1. The house and gardens lie in a very remote spot tucked away in the Herefordshire countryside - the lanes to get there are very steep and narrow, but very beautiful. Glad you enjoyed seeing the gardens Marian

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  23. It’s so amazing that the Scudamores prospered such long and kept living in the same place. I like the refined simplicity of the architecture nestled in the heart of country. The wisteria adorns the gate wall fantastically. The deer looks a little larger than those in Nara Park.

    Yoko

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