Now things are beginning to reopen we took the opportunity to visit Hampton Court Castle Gardens in Hope Under Dinmore.  On arrival our first port of call was the Orangery Cafe where we sat outside in the sunshine enjoying a sandwich whilst taking in the view.

After lunch we enjoyed a walk around the gardens which were as lovely as I remembered them on a previous visit. It was nice to visit somewhere that did not require tickets to be pre booked.

The tree leaflet for Hampton Court Castle and Garden provides the following information:

The oldest Cedar, growing on the slopes of Mount Lebanon, is approximately 16mts in girth and estimated to be 5.500 years old. By comparison, the first Cedar to be planted in this country, in 1647, is now 10mts in girth and our largest a mere 8mts.

Our Cedars were given pet names by one of the castle’s previous inhabitants, Johnny Arkwright (1833-1905), when he was convalescing as a child and was confined to the Orangery. The largest of the Cedars was christened Julius. We think that Julius is the tree with the door into the trunk.

Although badged as a castle, Hampton Court is more accurately described as a fortified manor house. Access to the house is by guided tour and we were shown round by the housekeeper who gave us a potted history of the house and the various owners of the property.

Hampton Court has been standing among pastures and parkland beside the River Lugg for 600 years. The original manor house – of which substantial parts remain – was built by Sir Rowland Lenthall on land that was a wedding gift from King Henry IV when he married the king’s cousin, Margaret Fitzalan. Rowland fought under Henry V at Agincourt. Our Herefordshire Hampton Court is nearly a century older than the other with the same name. ‘The powerful Coningsby family bought the house from the Lenthalls and stayed here for 300 years, extending and changing it. In the nineteenth century it was bought by Richard Arkwright, son of the famous inventor and industrialist. Richard’s son John, carried out another ambitious remodelling of the house. The family stayed there until 1912.

In the twentieth century it passed through various hands and much of the original furniture was sold. It was rescued in the 1990s by the American millionaire, Robert Van Kampen, who furnished it magnificently according to his idea of how an English country manor should look. It was sold again after his death.*

Adjacent to the house is the orangery (seen to the left in the above photograph) where sandwiches, cakes and light lunches are served. We were spoilt for choice and the food was delicious.

The gardens which are stunning have been recently redesigned as they had fallen into disrepair over the years. There are several different areas to the garden which include; Flower gardens enclosed by the original victorian walls, kitchen garden, moated pavilions, Wisteria Walk, herbaceous borders, yew maze, sunk garden and dutch garden.

The water features in the garden are fed by the river Lugg to where the water is returned after it reaches the final water feature in the water circuit, the sunk garden.

These photographs were taken during my visit in June. There a few photographs of the gardens in July on the Hampton Court website.

*From the Hampton Court promotional leaflet

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Breakfast was still a bit chaotic with not everything being where it should be at the same time. At least we had a pot of tea for two, although sadly there were not enough teabags so it was still a rather weak brew. At least we both had a good night’s sleep, Mr C had got the heaters regulated to just the right temperature.

Fine weather was forecast so we headed off to Hampton Court, Castle and Gardens, a place I had not heard of before I picked up a leaflet whilst we were dining at the Cotford Hotel. Unusually for us we arrived at the property before it opened and were the first visitors to arrive.

The gardens are stunning they include; flower gardens, herbaceous borders, kitchen garden, magnolia walk, sunken garden,Dutch garden and a yew maze. Although badged as a castle the building is more accurately a fortified manor house dating back to the 15th century. The housekeeper took us on a guided tour of the house, explaining its potted history and the various owners of the property. When the tour was over it was time for lunch which is served in the orangery. Their cakes looked so delicious that I couldn’t resist a piece of lemon and coconut cake.

After lunch we finished our tour of the gardens and found that we had time on our hands so we perused the map to find somewhere suitable for the time we had available. We chose Little Malvern Court and Gardens which is a 15th century prior’s hall, home of the Berington family by descent since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s.

When we arrived at Malvern Court we purchased tickets for the timed tour before going for a cup of tea in the courtyard tearoom. I couldn’t resist another piece of cake, this time spiced apple cake. We chose a seat looking over the severn valley, but unfortunately the wind had other ideas and blew up into a frenzy which meant that for safety reasons the doors had to be closed.

When we arrived for our guided tour, we learned that in addition to the other history of the house that it was a recusant house, a safe place for Catholics that did not wish to renounce their faith in favour of the Church of England. The house had a resident priest and a secret chapel in the eaves of the house. On our way up to the chapel we were shown black marks on the wooden beams which are thought to be marks warding off evil spirits. We were also shown an access point in the ceiling that could have been an escape route for the priests and worshipers, although it is not known where the exit led to. The chapel is accessed by staircase which is more ladder than stair. From the chapel we were shown where a landing had been cut away. The landing when intact would have connected the chapel to a spiral staircase on the opposite side of the building.

When we had returned downstairs we were shown the access to the spiral staircase, which still exists. After looking at the wall I was convinced that there would have been a secret panel in the wall concealing the staircase access.

The garden with its series of monastic lakes that would have provided for the monastery were a joy to visit and very photogenic.

For our evening meal we dined in the Chase Inn which provides good honest, home cooked pub fair. After we had dined we returned to Colwall Park for a nightcap.