Tuesday 23 August 2022

A day out at Croft Castle

 


It was HOT for our visit to Croft Castle.  Because of this we didn't do much more than walk from the car to the house, then to the church and then to get cold drinks from their cafe.  I was checking it for wheelchair access, but tbh, you could only see the downstairs and upstairs wasn't really worth seeing, mainly being a gallery of images of various works done at Hafod, their estate near Aberystwyth. "Peacocks in Paradise" is a book all about this venture.  As a result of Thomas Johne's profligate spending at Hafod - making the grounds look Romantic - and indeed remodelling Croft Castle in the Gothic-Rococo style - the estate once again had to be sold in 1799 to ward off bankcruptcy.   However, the Croft family suffered greatly with their investments in the South Sea Bubble and had had to sell the estate earlier than century (1746) to a Richard Knight to cover their losses.  Thomas Johnes was related by "marrying in".  There had been a building on the site here since 1085 and the Croft family were closely aligned with their neighbours the Mortimers. Indeed, the battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461 took place on land belonging to the Crofts.  The family managed to buy the house back and it passed to the National Trust in 1957, and so avoided the fate (demolition) of many other big houses across the country (18+ in Herefordshire alone).


The church was beautiful inside and out.



The superb tomb of Sir Richard and lady Eleanor Croft,  dating from his death in 1509.  Lady  Eleanor was the widow of Sir Hugh Mortimer, uncle of the Duke of York, and was responsible for running the household for the Princes in the Tower, when they were held at Ludlow Castle.  I bet she could tell some tales . . .  Sir Richard was the Treasurer of the Household for King Henry VII. They both died in the same year.



Medieval floor tiles which were made at Malvern.




A stone Wyvern guards the doorway.


What a stunning coffer - that carving is so crisp.  Beautiful.


An equally stunning Court Cupboard with huge bun feet, and intricate carvings.   Below: Caryatid figure detail.

















A lot of stitching went into the creation of this wonderful hanging.





I believe that Croft Castle has free access one day in September under the Heritage Open Days scheme. Several interesting properties listed and we hope to go to a couple - Brockhampton and perhaps Berrington Hall.

A rainy morning here - of course, as it is bin day and I have to take the recycling up the lane!  Some stitching on a quilt is scheduled for later, when the Physio has been and gone.

14 comments:

  1. I rather fancy the stone wyvern. I'm sure I could find it a good home in my garden.

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    1. Hi RP - yes, he would be a great asset to any garden. My favourite thing was the coffer.

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  2. Rather weirdly, my favourite thing in your photos is that 'pebble' table. I'm sure they are all semi-precious stones really, but they look like pebbles to me :-)

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    1. Ah, the "Grand Tour" piece - Probably Italian, and with a lovely array of marble samples from different quarries. Worth a pretty penny nowadays I expect.

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  3. Ancestral home of Lara Croft, tomb raider? Sorry, that came to mind. Or lack of mind. The carvings are lovely. The wyvern would fit well in a garden. I admire the workman(woman)ship of the tapestry.

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    1. Never thought of that Celie!! It was set beautifully in the landscape - what a lovely view.

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  4. Its a lovely place and church isn't it.? OH not keen that much on NT places but he loves it there. But I still haven't been in the house - the downstairs from your photos certainly looks worth a visit.

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    1. I have to say it wasn't my favourite ever - won't bother to go back. I prefer the likes of Haddon Hall or Tretower Court. No kitchen to look round at Croft - and that's the best bit for me!

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  5. The detailed carving always is stunning. I feel as if you could study it for an hour and still miss things. Imagine the hands of the craftsman at work, never dreaming that hundreds of years later, his work would still be a marvel!

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    1. I am sure these old craftsmen were proud of their work but never expected it to still be about hundreds of years later, let alone be on display.

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  6. Gorgeous church and home. I like the pebble table and all the intricate painting and carving.

    God bless.

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    1. There were some nice pieces of furniture in there.

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  7. I know we visited Croft Castle but it clearly didn’t make much of an impact as I have no memory. Brockhampton, on the other hand, was delightful, especially its magical gardens in springtime. We were staying in the Triumphal Arch at Berrington Hall Easter 2001 so had the grounds to ourselves once the visitors had gone home and before they arrived. We have had a lot of rain overnight and it is still pouring and humid and muggy for my day off. I worked all day in the bookshop yesterday and husband did another two hours of meadow mowing and is almost finished. As a reward he had chocolate brownie, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of clotted cream for afternoon tea in the garden - yet he remains so slim! I had frozen raspberry yogurt. My raspberries are poor this year but fine when added to chocolate brownies or mushed into yogurt and frozen. Btw David Swanson (on the High Street in Petworth) has a gorgeous 18th century Windsor chair in his window for £1850! Wonderful colour and patina - it stopped me in my tracks. Sarah x

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    1. I have to say, there was nothing there which really made an impact on me either. Brockhampton is on our list to visit - think it's free in History month in September. How lovely to stay in the grounds and be able to wander at will.

      I am hoping that Danny will come up soon to sort out my paddocks with the strimmer. I've done what I can with the shears. The birds are beating me to the raspberries, but fortunately haven't realize that the yellow Autumn ones are raspberries too!

      Of course, I went straight to David Swanson's website. Oh my. What a beautiful comb back Windsor. I will show his new in and sold pieces to Keith, who will enjoy that. Furniture is still our real interest - Windsor chairs our speciality - but we had to diversify when we no longer had a Unit to sell through.

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