Does that blog title pique your curiosity? Could there be a common theme? You'll just have to read on to find out.
We began the day with yet another fabulous and extremely filling breakfast. Honestly, if you walk out of here hungry then you are obviously doing something wrong. In fact, I might just be waddling out of here soon. Just saying.
Today we had three National Trust Sites on the agenda. We left our B&B and headed to Grantham House which is in Grantham. The National Trust book states that there were beautiful gardens and one could tour the bottom rooms of the manor house. But there was no parking lot so we needed to find a Pay & Display lot and walk a few blocks to the house.
We were greeted by a friendly trust volunteer who informed us that the visit was completely free, and it wasn't too difficult to figure out why that was the case.
The gardens were rather a disappointment, mostly filled with apple trees. And the rooms in the house were the cafe and children's play area. Not much historical there....except the age of the house.
Here are the highlights: entryway to the walled garden
a long line of apple trees making a lovely canopy to walk beneath
and a few flowers.
On the bright side, there was a lovely church just across from the manor house and the blue sky highlighted its beauty. So we captured a photo on the way back to the car.
We headed south through Grantham, where I spied a large statue of Sir Isaac Newton on the town square while Marty was maneuvering through a LOT of traffic. Finally, we were out of town and headed to Woolsthorpe Manor.
This is the childhood home of Sir Isaac Newton.
Isaac's father, also named Isaac was a wealthy farmer who owned a large parcel of land and raised a special type of sheep that produced very fine wool. When spun, this product resulted in high quality fabric that was considered to be superior to the average wool.
Isaac, Sr married Hannah Smith but died shortly after their marriage, leaving Hannah a pregnant widow. When she delivered her first born, a son, he immediately inherited the estate, but it Hannah who kept the business running.
Isaac was attending Cambridge, studying for a Master's degree in Mathematics, when the black plague spread throughout Europe.The colleges decided to close their doors and send students home in the hopes of curtailing the spread.
So, as a result, Isaac headed back to Woolsthorpe and settled into his upstairs bedroom in the manor house. With seemingly endless free time, Newton then personally delved into experiments that led to his theories on light as well as that of gravity.
There is a drawing above the mantle in his bedroom that shows the experiment that led to Newton's proposed the Corpuscular Theory of Light. He had cut out a circle in the shutter in order to be able to focus a light beam onto a prism.
You probably remember the childhood stories where we learned that Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head. Well, we were reminded that we don't exactly know where the apple fell, but the end result was that Newton formulated his gravitational theory.
Interesting enough, that very same tree continues to stand on the property and to bear fruit. We were assured that records from the 1600's verify only one apple tree on the property, and its location is verified.
In case you are wondering, the tree did suffer some significant damage, years ago, and new shoots shot off which is why the trunk isn't as large as one would expect to see in a 400 year old tree.
And here we are, standing in front of the infamous tree!
There wasn't much more to see, so we hopped in the car, and drove north, stopping at Belton Estate. The property was quite extensive. Even the parking lot was pretty far from the entrance. And, believe it or not, the parking lot had quite a number of cars packed in it when we arrived.
We didn't get much history on the family, but we do know that this very house has been standing on this ground since the 1600's.
The actual manor house was featured in the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice as Rosings Park, home of the aunt of Mr. Darcy.
and the back features the walkway that Mr. Darcy made while visiting his aunt.
By now, you should have figured out that the connection between Newton and Darcy is that both are tied in some way to a National Trust property. Although Newton would be a real life scientist and Darcy a fictional character. But it was fun learning about the scenes from the guide who was eager to share the information.
Once again, our first stop was the tea room. The refreshment was much appreciated as we would end up perusing the house and grounds for well over three hours.
What made the most impression on me regarding the house is that the walls, floor, wooden carvings, etc. all stem from the mid 1600s. I find it amazing that the original house continues to stand, and in such perfect condition!
The marble floor is original to the house.
The parlor has painted floors. A bit tricky to photograph with the lighting in the room.
This is a very rare collective from the same time period. It has been carefully maintained over the centuries.
Another priceless piece in this same room showed some excellent workmanship as well.
There is a full size chapel in the house, and this below is the chapel drawing room, where the above items still stand.
The bedrooms were large and featured some exceedingly high bed coverings!
The wall paper in this room is handprinted and from the 1780s.
This bed chamber was designed for Queen Adelaide, who visited the family in the 1840's, staying for 6 weeks after her husband passed.
The paintings were all family and I've chosen a few to highlight simply because I found them beautiful.
This one features the Prince of Wales attending a Parliament session.
There were books
and books
and even more books!
A beautiful ornate ceiling
and an interesting clock....just to mention a few unusual items.
As you can see, the outside gardens are exquisite. Of course, the brilliant blue sky helps to contrast the scene beautifully.
Aren't they stunning?
We certainly enjoyed exploring various facets of the estate, including a boxwood maze where we never did find the way to the center. And, luckily, we could make our way out!
We left just as the place was locking up for the night, and we headed back to our B&B in Lincoln.
Dinner was at the Duke William, recommended to us by a fellow guest.
The food as well as the ambience exceeded our expectations!
Thanks for following along. Tomorrow we leave Lincoln and head west.
I hope you enjoyed our day's adventure.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment