Monday 1 August 2011

Acton Court

Dear Readers,

I fear I have been neglecting you of late. Life has been so busy but I thought it was about time to let you know that I am still here & what I have been up to!

Do many of you find that there is something rather lovely to see or visit on your doorstep but you never get around do doing it? Well, almost a stone's throw from my house is a Tudor treasure, Acton Court - I drive past it on a regular basis & if it wasn't for the trees I could see it from my bedroom window, yet I have never been before.

Last week the local WI organised a visit & guided tour so I went along & I was so glad I did!
It is a fascinating building that was built especially for a visit from Henry VIII & Anne Bolyn in 1535 - it was originally a wing of a much larger building but over the years the stone was used to build barns etc as it was eventually used as a farmhouse, so only this specially built wing is still standing (including Henry's personal indoor privy!). The farmers used Henry's dining hall to store cheese!




The gardens are no longer formal but are very prettily filled with wild flowers.


A nice seating area under the trees where you can have tea & cake.




Photography is not allowed inside the building so I can only show you the outside.


This window was recycled from an Abbey destroyed by Henry VIII.




There is also a lovely vegetable garden.


You can just see our very informative & enthusiastic guide who really brought the building's story to life.



Piggy sculptures in the garden.


There is even a resident friendly dog!

I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area but do check dates as they aren't open all year round. They do have a website here: www.actoncourt.com

10 comments:

  1. What a lovely place to ahve so close to you! Beautiful. Em x

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  2. Looks great, mst add it to my list. It's awful how the nearest things are the ones you never go to, we lived in Cardiff for years and I never did go round the castle ...

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  3. Looks like a fabulous place! We are the same with Blenheim Palace! We live about 10 mins away by car and we didn't visit it until about 3 years ago( at which point we'd lived here for 10 years) We kept thinking we'll go when some of the family come down from Birmingham, but we just never did! We had a gorgeous day there when we finally got around to it!I do love a bit of history!

    I met a lady a on my stall in Oxford a few weeks ago that will be having a stall at your textile at your Textile and Fashion Fair, it's a small world isn't it!She was very nice, bought a wicker hamper from me top her vintage fabrics into!
    Rachel x

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  4. Another place on my list to try and get to!
    Julie xxxxxx

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  5. Ummmmmmmmmmm........... I am pretty close too, aren't I? And guess what, I haven't been either, although every time we do drive past it, I comment that we ought to. Isn't that always the way, though?

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  6. And here I sit in the States imagining all of you spending your days in castles...and trying to figure out how to get over there to see them. This one in particular I like - having just finished my addiction to The Tudors. Henry must have loved seeing that abbey church window every time he saw it.

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  7. Oh, what a great post. I love reading about that era and would love to see that place. We tear down old buildings in America :( Loved your photos and comments. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. What a fascinating building and history; thanks for the info as its just the type of place that I like to visit.

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  9. A lovely place Jayne, and I agree with you about what is on our doorstep!
    I decided that M and I should have a hol in Whitstable (and take Flo) for the same reason. We have never been there and I have an itinery for our week. I did have grand plans of doing every county, but that may take some time!
    Was the cake good?
    T x

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  10. What a lovely place and on your doorstep too.
    We have some fabulous buildings in this country, some we only discovered for the first time last week in Herefordshire...
    Must put Acton on our list for the future when we venture further south.
    Julie x

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