Tag: Warwickshire

Our Short Break in Stratford-on-Avon – Part 4 – Coughton Court

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 2, 2019

On our return journey from Stratford afforded us the opportunity to return to explore the gardens of the National Tust property, Coughton Court, a garden we had not visited for many years, so we looked forward to seeing how our memories of the place matched up with the reality.

Coughton Court is the family home of the Throckmorton family, who continue to maintain and develop the garden and grounds as well as the house itself.

In particular, we remember the walled rose garden which is often quoted as being one of the most romantic gardens in the UK which is of course the land of romantic gardens. We could both remember this area which was full of scented roses, many old-fashioned varieties, and its beautiful statue of a female figure. I can even remember the beautifully soft subtle planting around its base of Sedum sectabile and Stip tenuissima. I hoped that planting still remained.

The introductory set of eight photos below illustrate the variety of points of interest at Coughton. They show the beauty of the buildings themselves, the rose garden, bog garden, orchards, woodland, riverside walk etc

The Throckmorton family rose garden was developed in 1966 and was designed by a Chelsea RHS Show award-winning garden designer, Christina Williams. What makes ir si special and different to traditional rose gardens is the way the roses are heavily underplanted with herbaceous perennials. The statue is of Fair Rosamund, a beauty of the 12th century and reputedly the mistress of King Henry II. The popular ancient rose, Rosa mundi was named after her and specimens are planted around the statue. The gentle planting of my memories has sadly been superseded.

There was so much to enjoy in this rose garden that it is best to look at following a gallery of photos that I took within its bounds. Click on the first photo and then navigate with the arrows.

Moving on from the rose garden and its rich sites and aromas, we found our way into a much more open space which presented a pleasant contrast to the business of the rose garden. Here a rectangular lawn was edged with herbaceous borders, planted with Gertrude Jekyl style gentle end of the spectrum plant choices. We enjoyed a slow amble among each side, appreciating the individual plants, plant combinations and the bigger picture of looking right along the length of each border.

It is always good to visit a garden with many different aspects and the gardens at Coughton Court manages to certainly provide lots of different styles of garden to enjoy. Here are few shots showing different aspects I haven’t the space to share. Enjoy!

Tags Coughton Court, garden sculpture, gardens of the National Trust, herbaceous borders, herbaceous plants, Natiional Trust Gardens, National Trust, rose garden, rose gardens, Warwickshire

architecture fruit and veg garden arches garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public kitchen gardens ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture roses sculpture village gardens

Our Short Break in Stratford -on-Avon – Part 3 – Anne Hathaway’s cottage and garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 31, 2019
1 Comment on Our Short Break in Stratford -on-Avon – Part 3 – Anne Hathaway’s cottage and garden

Anne Hathaway was Shakepeare’s wife and her cottage and garden are probably one of the best known tourist destinations in England, so we were pleased to be visiting in mid-week when we hpoed it might be a little quieter. Luckily we arrived just ahead of a party of schoolgirls, excited, boisterous and noisy.

Visitors were allowed into the cottage in small groups each of which received an introductory talk from a knowledgeable guide. Her chat prepared us well for our visit. We had a wandewr around the cottage interior although really we wnated be outside exploring the cottage style garden.

This set of photos give you the sense of the cottage’s beauty, intimacy and atmosphere. Beautiful gable windows pierce the tiled roof while climbing and scented plants snuggle up to its walls. The gardens are both productive and ornamental, with vegetable patches, fruit production and orchards as well as meadows and mixed borders. A beautiful woven “moongate” adds interest alongside many other sculptural pieces.

To help share our experiences at the Anne Hathaway cottage and garden I will use a gallery of shots taken during our exploration of the cottage interior, the garden and the grounds further afield. Enjoy by clicking on the first photo then navigate with the arrows.

Tags Anne Hathaway, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, cottage gardens, fruit and vegetable growing, productive gardening, Shakespeare, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire

architecture buildings garden design garden photography garden seat garden seating gardens gardens open to the public grasses ornamental grasses outdoor sculpture sculpture town gardens

Our Short Break in Stratford-on-Avon – Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 29, 2019

Part two of this report on our short break in Stratford-on-Avon is all about the gardens of Shakespeare and his family. After spending time indoors studying the life and times of the Bard is was good to be outside discovering some outdoor history.

We will begin by looking at the grounds of the Shakespeare family home, where roses seem the most important plant. The planting today does not necessarily relate in any way to how it was in the Bard’s day. We loved this bronze of Shakespeare which seemed to capture his intelligence and depth of thinking and feeling, as well as the contemporary pencil sketch of the house.

In total contrast but just a short walk away, is “The New Place”, a celebration of Shakespeare’s life with exciting modern garden design and statuary. Each piece of statuary and each plant combination provides hints of the period as well as adding atmosphere. There were brilliant plant combinations combined sensitively with modern sculptural constructions. Softening of modern hard landscaping was carried out using soft, whispy grasses such as Stipa tennuissima Pony Tails.

The globe under the tree feature had a real surprise in store fr when you got close to the tree you realised it was cast in bronze. Goldfinches loved it and sang from its upper branches!

A more open space beyond he building and the modern garden area had a completely different feel to it contrasting strongly and providing a peaceful space to rest and have a quick coffee served by a barista on a bicycle. Long double borders with a central path ran along one side of the large green, with topiarised hedging and perennial planting.

Finally a parterre area felt much more in keeping with the garden style of the Shakespearian era, providing another contrasting area to explore. Lavenders gave off beautiful gentle scent.

Tags garden sculpture, gardens, ornamental grasses, outdoor sculpture, parterre, parterres, roses, Shakespeare, Stratford-on-Avon, topiary., town gardens, Warwickshire

architecture buildings townscapes

Our short break in Stratford-upon-Avon – Part 1

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 27, 2019

In June of 2018 we decided to visit Stratford-on-Avon for a short mid-week break as it has been several years since we last visited. We decided to stay in the centre and concentrate on exploring the centre.

Here is a series of pics of a morning wandering around the town centre, with its half-timbered buildings, the riverside, the theatre and even a sculptured hedge for added interest. There is such a wide ranging style of architecture within the town that no street is void of interest. What has made exploration easier since our last visit is the change in emphasis from traffic friendly roads to pedestrianisation and safe crossings.

We visited the house in which William Shakespeare grew up and where his father ran a business making high-class leather gloves. A very smelly business being carried out in a family house must have been a difficult combination. The house had many examples of leather making paraphernalia as well as furnished family rooms.

Here is a set of photos of the living quarters of the Shakespeare family home.

The working craftrooms were busy places and their stench must have emanated throughout the living quarters. Despite the stenches prevalent within the workshops the gloves made were stunnungly beautiful, colours subtle and textures so soft.