Dawn
just look at all the jewels mother nature has draped around our garden
Sunrise
and it looks as if today will be perfect to walk William Kent's C18th landscape at Rousham
We fell in love with Rousham on our last visit, but now we love it even more, it's a gem
Palladian stable-block designed by William Kent
We had Rousham almost to ourselves,
but someone else was present having a photo shoot - that's Monty Don in the middle!
I always imagined he was tall
BBC Gardeners' World
This is Monty's "Twitter" comment for the 20th October
"Spent the day at Rousham. England's greatest garden under a blue sky and warm sun, lit by brilliant autumnal colour..Sublime"
So, it appears Monty agrees with us!
We enjoyed our picnic sitting in one of William Kent's pavilion seats whilst watching Monty pose in front of the Scheemaker statue, and then they left,
but the family dog chose to come with us.
After paying the entrance fee, described here, you collect a leaflet which shows a reproduction of the original walking circuit drawn in 1738
The grounds are beautifully tended by half a dozen gardeners who lovingly maintain it
Dying Gladiator
Rousham represents the first phase of English landscape design, i.e before Capability Brown or Humphry Repton. It remains almost as William Kent left it, one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration. Happily the features that delighted C18th visitors are mostly still in situ.
Octagonal pool with the figure of Pan lurking in the shadows
The upper cascade where Venus presides over the glade
Lower cascade with Venus in the distance
The Watery Walk takes you on a gentle stroll through the woods accompanied by the most magnificent serpentine rill
It gently twists and turns as it chuckles merrily on its journey
running in and out of a feature called the Cold Bath before eventually reaching its source on the brow of the hill
near to the Temple of Echo
The hill drops down to the River Cherwell which flows beneath Heyford Bridge built nearly 800 years ago
Watched over by Apollo
Apollo seen from Venus' Glade
Following the course of the river we catch our first glimpse of Kent's Praeneste Terrace
The terrace is modelled on the Temple of Fortune at Praeneste, Italy; a famous Roman ruin, much studied by Renaissance architects Ligorio and Palladio, and generally visited as a prime site on Grand Tours
A lovely place to sit, to contemplate, to dream, and while away some time
whilst the Cherwell meanders on through the meadows to Oxford and then the Thames
Arcading, soft colours, elegant seating - I feel as if I've been transported to Italy 'perfezione' but no! I pinch myself, I'm still here, sitting in the Cotswolds!
We couldn't resist a final peep into the walled garden
now filled with autumn flowers and colours
Rousham's historic C17th dovecote
A bag full of 'help yourself apples' came home with us - there will be plenty of apple pies and crumble to enjoy during the winter months, but we shall definitely return to Rousham again, and again, and again♡
the sunshine helps foreshorten our British winter and 
