On the First day of the Jubilee Bank holiday weekend, my eldest son and I took the little ones for a picnic to the rather grand Dyrham Park.

The single storey building to the left is an Orangery. The house dates back to the 17 th century and was built for one William Blathwayt, c 1649-1717. He inherited the estate from his father in law and he immediately set about rebuilding the house decorating it in the Dutch style favoured by King William of Orange and his wife Queen Mary. The main part of the house is to the right, replacing the older Tudor Manor.





The house when it was acquired by the National Trust was in a pretty terrible state. The roof had to be redone completely with work finished in 2015. The interior is now nearing the end of its refurbishment, and is mostly not open to the public yet. Three rooms downstairs have been used to create a bedroom and sitting room using furniture that had been brought in specially for a much anticipated but never realised visit by Queen Anne en route to Bath. I expect that’s when she stopped at Avebury instead. Can’t help wondering if the Royal party got lost, or maybe that all houses at that time were put on a state of readiness for Queen Anne’s jolly. You’d be pretty miffed if you went to the upheaval and expense and got no eminent personage. Which is a very long way of my saying, no photos of these rooms as they are kept in near gloom to save the furnishings from sun damage.

On the plus side, there were lots of lawn games to play with, space for children to roar around in, nice tearoom, plants and second hand books for sale. Sadly the deer herd for which this Park was famous have all had to be culled as they had an exceedingly bad outbreak of bovine tuberculosis . Once it us safe to do so the deer will be reintroduced to the grounds.
We had a smashing day out, and I’ll return, maybe annually to see the property return to glory.
Comments on: "Dyrham Park" (17)
What a great place to take children. Lovely weather too.
I do love that rich, lavish background of mature trees behind the church. You just don’t see them like that here, the foliage is much thinner and a different green.
I suppose that’s strength of the sun and the soil.
Also, I think, the fact that English trees are much more thickly leaved due to the availability of rain. It’s a much denser canopy. And yes, England does have much deeper soil!
Sounds like a great place to take the grands!
It was a super place for them, especially the provision of the games. I expect it stopped children from damaging the garden too.
I grew up very near Heaton Park in Manchester and was always intrigued by the orangery there. It was owned by the City not the NT but the park was a wonmderful place to explore when I was allowed to go there on my own. I wonder if the interior has been furnished and a tea room installed there too?
Just googled Heaton Park. Four cafes! And it seems they have historical events when you can go in. Mr E and I lived in Stockport for a year, we would go by bus to Lyme Park which we really enjoyed.
thanks for sharing another day out with us ^^ As a child, my parents used to take us out to visit NT houses and gardens most weekends during the fine weather. We lived in the SE so Hamptom Court, Hever Castle, Penshurt Place are places I remember visiting.
We lived in Sussex when first married and visited a lot of NT places with the inlaws. Easy terrain for pushchairs!
Sounds like a good place to go with family with all the space and lawn games. Sorry to hear about the deer though. 😦
I was upset about the deer, it must have been a horrendous decision for someone. The children had a great time, Daddy did too, Nana guarded the picnic.
Sounds like a good job, Picnic guard. 🙂 I like it. X
You do seem to be getting plenty of outings. The house looks huge. It is hard to imagine a time when people lived like that.
I am really enjoying being able to get out and about again. So glad I joined the National Trust
Lovely pictures of a lovely place. I love these big old houses, left over from a way of life that is long gone. Shame about the deer herd though, hopefully they’ll manage a successful reintroduction.
They certainly plan too when there’s a Good opportunity. I love these houses too, and am really enjoying finding them in my new area.