More historic houses

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Today our plan was to go to Lytes Carey and a castle nearby, and then spend the afternoon in Wells. We set off for Lytes Carey, arriving just as the garden opened. The House wasn’t open for a little while so we had mourning tea and then explored the garden. It was part open plan and part formal garden In the Arts and Crafts style. It was created by the last owner, who left the house to the National Trust when he died in 1948. In the formal garden, there were a number of “rooms” each edged with a yew hedge. There was also the best croquet green we have seen in our travels. It even had lines marking out the edge of the court and another line across the middle. Plenty of space for the spectators around the edge. The house was built over a number of years . It was begun in the 14th century, and the great hall is from that time. There is a chapel attached to the house that was built in 1343, and the rest of the house was extended over the centuries. The last extension was completed in the 20th century by the last owner. With all the different periods of building, the house remarkable flows together and doesn’t seem to be a collection of different styles. While we were at Lytes Carey, we discovered another National Trust house close by. It looked very interesting, as there are not many intact houses this age around, so changed our plans. Montacute house was an Elizabethan construction, built by Edward Phelips in 1601 to show off his wealth and success. He had hoped Elizabeth l would come to visit the house, but unfortunately she died before it could be arranged. Phelips was a lawyer and a member of parliament at the time of Elizabeth l. (He was the lawyer that prosecuted Guy Fawkes later on) It is a very grand house, and much of it is still as it was designed. Thee have been some alterations and additions over the years, but they are minor, and so it is a great example of an Elizabethan manor house. We began with a guided tour of the garden space. Our guide pointed out what it would have been like at the time it was first built, told us about life in Elizabethan England, and gave us an excellent historical perspective. (The house was used in the filming of Wolf Hall- as Greenwich Palace- and the grounds were also used in the jousting.) We then went inside the house. Although there have been some minor changes, it was filled with appropriate furniture and paintings.. At present the top floor is also hosting an exhibition of Elizabethan and Tudor portraits from the National Portrait Gallery. There was a lot to see! We got back to Wells much later than we planned. However, there was still time to look over the cathedral, and the close. The cathedral is old, the current building was begin in 1175, although there had been other buildings on the site prior to this. The interior has a modern look about it, particularly in the struc holding up the main bulk of the cathedraL. However it is not modern at all! It is medieval. it was definitely worth looking at. While we were in the cathedral a number of the musicians were practicing, and the church was being prepared for evensong, so we were not able to go into the quire today. It was good that we had been able to go to evensong last night.. we left the cathedral and walked through the close. There are quite a few houses in the close, and just as we were wondering who lived there, the members of the choir started coming out their doors to go acrosss to evensong. We guessed the adult choristers might have the opportunity to live there. We went back to our accomodation so that we could put some clothes in the washing machine before we went to dinner. It has been a real great to have a washing machine and dryer. Dinner was at The Fountain Inn again. Another good meal.

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