Angelsey Abbey

We visited our friends, Dawn and Richard, in Northamptonshire.  A beautiful area, with rolling hills, picturesque villages and tall spires on the churches.   They also have a beautiful garden, and a light and airy conservatory.   It is such a delight to sit in the warmth of the conservatory and look out at the abundant bird life in the trees.

Dawn and Richard took us to visit Angelsey Abbey, which is in the adjoining county of Cambridgeshire, where we spent a very enjoyable day exploring the gardens, house and mill.

Angelsey Abbey was formerly a priory, then a country house.  The house was bought by Lord Fairhaven in 1926, who made extensive improvements to the interior of the house.   It was fascinating to see the rooms, and furnishings, and the extensive art collection, which have been left, more or less, as they were when Lord Fairhaven died in 1966 and left the abbey to the National Trust.

The extensive landscaped gardens were beautiful, which plenty of interest.   Apparently a visit in early spring is a must, when the snowdrops are out.     However we were quite taken with the variety of trees, flowers and different garden areas when we visited ten days ago.

Walter, Richard and Dawn taking a breather on one of the paths.

The bark on the tree, in the photograph below, was fascinating as it was a dark red and polished smooth where people had rubbed their hands on the branches.

A beautiful copse of Himalayan White Birch.

Bottisham Lode, a waterway that once connected with the River Cam.

Lode Watermill, was mentioned in the Doomsday survey in 1086, although the present mill was probably built in the 18th century.   This mill has been used to mill corn and then converted to grind cement which was a mixture of clay and lime or natural chalk.  The mill has now been restored to mill corn.

I climbed up steep ladders to the third floor, not an easy task.   When the wheel started to turn it was like being in an earthquake.  A fascinating place.

The Herbaceous Border with the a statue of the Saxon God Tiw in the centre.   There was a variety of flowering plants, which gave off their best display in July.

The Dahlia Garden, set out elegantly in three colours.

The Rose Garden with its lead statues of Apollo and Diana, and a bronze copy of the statue of Donatello's David.   There was a very interesting wind vane on the roof of the buildings, but my photo was too blurry to include in this blog.  The wind vane was made in the shape of a viking ship.

There were also other parts of the garden which we did not visit, such as the garden of statues, wildflower gardens, and other general walks.  The new restaurant/cafe was also a very pleasant place in which to drink coffee and eat lunch.

We spent a lovely weekend with Dawn and Richard, and we were very sad to say goodbye on Sunday afternoon and return home.