Venus Pools Shropshire

 

Venus Pools

Llanthony Priory Llanthony, Abergavenny NP7 7NN

Norman knight William de Lacy founded a hermitage here when he — untypical of the times — abandoned war and embraced religion. By 1118 Llanthony had become a monastery of Augustinian canons, which continued until it was suppressed in 1539. 

The Priory became one of the great medieval buildings in Wales, in a mixture of Norman and Gothic architectural styles. Renewed building took place around 1325, with a new gatehouse. On 4 April 1327 (Palm Sunday), the deposed Edward II stayed at the Priory on his way from Kenilworth Castle to Berkeley Castle, where he is alleged to have been murdered.Today it is a 900 year ruin.

The ruins have attracted artists over the years, including J. M. W. Turner who painted them from the opposite hillside. The priory was acquired by the Knight family in the 20th century.

Wyken Hall - an Elizabethan Manor house in Suffolk

Wyken Hall lies nine miles north-east of Bury St Edmunds in the parish of Bardwell and Stanton on the divide between the Breckland sands and the boulder clay of central Suffolk.  Iron Age and Roman pottery has been found on the estate. Iron Age and Roman pottery has been found on the estate.

The name Wyken  derives from the Roman vicus - an administrative term and thought to imply a dependant or outlying farm. Ham suggests an early English settlement continuing after the Roman period. The Wyken estate is mentioned in Domesday. The Wykenhale Survey of 1593 describes the manor, then owned by Robert Asheley. Thomas Warren's 1791 map shows that Wyken today is physically still very much as it was over 200 years ago.

Frank Heilgers, a cousin of the present owner, bought Wyken in 1920, 1050 acres of mixed arable and livestock farming. At the time the house was a modest Suffolk farm, dating from the 16th century. The new owner commissioned John Corder, an Ipswich architect, to restore and enlarge it and an attractive and comfortable house was created. 

The current late owner, Kenneth Carlisle, married Carla, an American from the Mississippi Delta, in 1986, and they decided to create a vineyard soon after. They had decided that the time had come to diversify. Farming the estate was contracted out in the 1990s. The farm is managed for wildlife and is part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, working in conjunction with Suffolk Wildlife Trust. There are wildflower meadows, ponds and reed-beds immediately beyond the gardens which surround the house. The garden was created by Lord Carlisle and his Lady wife who brought a Southern accent to the landscape with rocking chairs from Mississippi, Gothic gates, Peacocks, Brahma hens and Narragansett turkeys. Lady Carla continues to write for Country Life. 

The Country Store and Cafe opened in 1992, in a converted barn, and the restaurant followed soon after. The weekly farmers' market began in 2002. Currently the four acre garden attracts upwards of 5,000 visitors a year.

Today was the first day the gardens were open to the public and it is a relaxing space with beautiful flora.  The restaurant is charming with an interesting delicious menu offering a choice of taste of local produce. 

Here are a few iPhone images