...A further mile and Simon turns into the crenelated gates to Hampton Court (hamptoncourt.org.uk). The oldest parts of Herefordshire's Hampton Court predate London's by 50 years. The rest is a sprawl of Victorian castellated fantasy while the formal gardens owe their creation to 20th-century American wealth and the dedication of head gardener, Hannah Wilks. Protected by ancient brick walls, the patterns of box hedge, flower beds, pools and water courses seem designed for meditation and we sit a while on a bench in comfortable silence before following Hannah to the yew maze.
I learn that a ha-ha is a sunken barrier, here separating the cedar-shaded lawns and a cattle paddock, beyond which runs the river Lugg. A steep wooded ridge rises beyond the river and copper beeches glow among the myriad shades of green.
Joseph Paxman (architect of Crystal Palace) designed the orangery where tea is served with delicious home-baked chocolate cake and treacle tart. Finally we are shown round the vast formal rooms of the castle: library, banqueting hall, chapel. We follow our guide down corridors between rows of empty armour and stuffed African deer. Rather than paintings on the walls, there are assegais and arrows, shields and sabres. The extraordinary modern steel candelabra were surely designed for a Wagnerian B movie comedy set in a schloss in Hitler's Germany... |
