Thursday 2 June 2016

Packwood, Warwickshire




Entrance to kitchen garden
An Auricular Theatre showcasing these pretty flowers

Packwood House is a timber framed Tudor manor house constructed for John Fetherstone in 1556. It remained in the same family for over 300 years until the last member of the family died. It was purchased by a Birmingham industrialist Alfred Ash, who left it to his son Graham Baron Ash in 1925. Graham, a bachelor, devoted the next two decades to restoring the house and gardens back to its original Tudor origins.
The Yew trees were planted over 300 years ago by the Fetherstone family
Camassia growing in the meadow

39 comments:

  1. Amazing gardens there, so well maintained.

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  2. Your photos are lovely, as always, and I can imagine wandering around this garden dreaming! I love to see the wisteria. Sadly it seems to have all finished flowering around here now. The yews are very impressive - such beautiful trees.

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    1. They had several different types of wisterias in the garden most of which was fully open. Wonderful to think that those yew are so old - what a tale they could probably tell.

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  3. What a lovely green lawn.
    The garden is good and nice to read that it has been restored.

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    1. Glad that you enjoyed seeing the garden Margaret

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  4. That is a long time for it to remain in the same family! Isn't it wonderful that the present owner has restored it. I sure would like to see what he has done inside. Wonderful photos of the gardens Rosemary.

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    1. I am sorry that I haven't shown the inside Janey, I think that I ran out of steam! May be I will do the inside at sometime in the future.

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  5. Oh I do love this garden Rosemary. G just came in and I had to show it to him; he really likes it too. We enjoy seeing flowers growing wildly in a meadow setting something impossible in our climate. The wisteria is gorgeous, one of my favourites, and I do love the brickwork and the formal yew trees too.
    So enjoyable, thank you.

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    1. The brickwork really sets this house and garden off Patrica - they are a lovely rich colour, narrower than usual and of course their age gives them character. So pleased that both you and G enjoyed seeing the post.

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  6. Dear Rosemary ,what a beautiful garden ! Thank you for sharing this paradise .I would like to ask you something ..which is the name of the plant at fifth photo ..this green plant ,with spiny shape??
    Have a lovely day !

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    1. Dear Olympia - it is lovely to hear from you, and I am delighted that you enjoyed seeing the garden.
      The green spikey plant is an artichoke - although a vegetable we often put them in our flower borders too. We like their decorative leaves and lovely thistles which they acquire if you do not remove the eating part of the artichoke.

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  7. Love your photo series of this amazing Tudor house.
    Oh to have a kitchen garden like that one.
    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. It would eliminate the need to go to the shops and markets to buy vegetables as everything would be on hand.

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  8. What wonderful gardens. Amazing that one family would own a home for 300 years.

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    1. 300 years does seem a long time, but Frampton Court, which you might know as it is in Gloucestershire, has been owned by the Clifford family for nearly 1000 years

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  9. What a beautiful house. I imagine that every view of the garden from that house must be a treat. I see that there is Camassia growing there and I wonder if it is the same plant as our wild native Camas here on the island.

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    1. You are correct H, Camassia quamash is its botanical name commonly known as Camas which is has you say is one of your native plants.

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  10. How lovely! Those yews are magnificent.

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    1. Yews are some of the longest lived trees - in fact there is a yew tree in Fortingall, Scotland that experts have estimated to be around 2500 years old

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  11. What a beautiful place. Your photos of it are gorgeous.
    I had to go and find out more about the house in Google. It is huge! It was fun to have a look around it on Google Earth.

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    1. Thank you Catherine, glad that you found it sufficently interesting to explore further.

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  12. Hello Rosemary,
    Packwood House has received much love and caring over the years. The gardens radiate calmness.

    Enjoy your weekend

    Helen x

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    1. Hello Helen - there is so much that is lovely to see and enjoy in this garden

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  13. You are so lucky to have plenty of great architectural heritage beautifully preserved and available for visits in your country!

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    1. We belong to the National Trust, whose annual membership is not expensive, but gives access throughout the year to hundreds of properties, gardens, and landscapes. Wherever we travel here and in Scotland there are always several places to visit in the area.

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  14. Your photos, as always, are fantastic. The auricula theatre..Be still my heart. The peony stems are so long, compared to what we grow here in my garden. I see in your photos camassia in the meadow. Does it spread over in England with a warmer climate? Or perhaps it is a more wild variety. Wish we had something like a National Trust here; you are so lucky.

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    1. I am so pleased that you liked the Auricula Theatre, you are the only commenter who has mentioned it. I took these photos a couple of weeks ago so presumably the Peonies will now be in flower. The Camassia will have been planted in that meadow as they are not a native plant here, but they do look at home and happy.
      There are a lot of places to visit, not only the NT, but also English Heritage properties, and of course those that open their homes and gardens privately such has Chatsworth House etc. Thank you for visiting.

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  15. Hello Rosemary, There are some stunning views in this garden. I am not so fond of the whimsical vignettes, but these are far outweighed by the old and traditional which characterize this house and garden. As you can probably guess, my favorite pictures are the all (or almost all) green ones.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - you should have looked at my previous post which is very very green - I hope that you are enjoying your vacation back home in Ohio.

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  16. Mmm... Lovely! Its almost 100 f here today, and I'm thinking I should watch a movie about winter to help cool down. Your garden pictures helped though : )

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    1. I am pleased that you enjoyed seeing Packwood Marica

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  17. Roemary you do manage to find the most fantastic gardens to visit! Those yew trees are amazing and the flower pot gardener did make me smile! Sarah x

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    1. This is a fantastic NT property and garden to visit Sarah if ever you are passing through Warwickshire.

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  18. What a dream of a property. Thank you, Rosemary.

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