An early start today as lots on our agenda to fit in. First call was Rydal Mount, a beautifully appointed country residence, the home of William Wordsworth for the last 37 years of his life.
Rydal Mount – last home of Wordsworth
http://www.rydalmount.co.uk/rydalmount/
Following Wordsworth’s death in the early 19th century, the house was eventually sold and went out of the family. In 1969 the house was bought again by a descendant of William Wordsworth and has been owned by the family ever since. The property is now operated as a tourist attraction and live in managers oversee the day to day running of the site. The current tenants have lived there for the past 20 years and thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle it affords them. The work involved in greeting international visitors and groups on a daily basis is countered by having the property to themselves to enjoy out of hours. The property is lovely, the elevated position offers wonderful vistas of Lake Windermere, Rydal Water and the surrounding countryside. Different to the Wordsworth Museum we visited earlier in the week in so much as it focuses more on Wordsworth as a family man, Rydal Mount offers a wonderful overview of the social history relating to the property and Wordsworth as a husband, father and brother.
Following our Rydal visit, we journeyed South towards Kendal and Levens Hall, famed for its large Elizabethan Manor house and topiary garden which is of National importance.
Levens Hall
The gardens were first appointed by a French gardener Guillaume Beaumont, a pupil of le Notre at Versailles in 1688 and retain a very similar lay out to this day. Typically Elizabethan with lots of dark oak panelling, the property has a complex family history and has a collection of leather wall hangings of great importance, some of the finest in the world. Amongst the family’s collection of fine antiques, clocks and war memorabilia are also examples of the earliest English quilting work in existence. The workmanship of the quilting is magnificent and the textile has been made up of tiny fragments of precious Indian silk intricately stitched together.
A short trip from Levens Hall found of at Sizergh Castle, out last stop of the day.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sizergh/visitor-information/
Sizergh Castle
One of the largest National Trust properties in Cumbria, we spent a very enjoyable and enlightening couple of hours exploring the house and its collections. Associated with the Strickland family since 1239, the property, although now owned by the National Trust, is still lived in by members of the Strickland family. Based around a central pele tower, as with so many of the old properties in this area, the house has undergone several periods of change and renovation throughout its history. The house we see today remains largely unchanged from the last period of updating in the early 19th century. The information in the rooms was excellent and we were able to piece together the family through their portraits and contributions to the house’s collection. Each generation has contributed, whether it be in the fabric of the building and interiors, or an addition to the the fine collections of porcelain and antiques. The guides were very friendly and only too pleased to share their knowledge of certain pieces throughout the house. The furniture and ceramics were especially impressive. We’ve now developed quite a taste for pate-sur-pate work it would seem!
The Big Man, The Pretty One & The Animal 