Travel Stories: English Gardens Tour (4)

(This is the 4th in my series about the English Gardens Tour I led from May 16-27, 2018. Remember that you can click on any of the photos in order to see a much larger image.)

The pace of the second full day of our trip was much more relaxed. We arrived at Waddesdon Manor at 10 a.m. and stayed there for the whole day. That was just what we needed after our very long first full day.

While I’ve been to France a few times, it’s a bit surprising to see a French chateau in the middle of the English countryside! Waddesdon Manor was built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the late 1800’s so he could entertain his family and friends on the weekends. It was also designed to house his extensive collection of art.

During World War II, 100 children were evacuated from London to the manor. Waddesdon Manor was bequeathed to the National Trust in the 1950s.

We began our visit there by being treated to some coffee or tea and pastry. Nothing wrong with that! Afterwards, we listened to a docent presenting their Kitchen Discovery Talk, to learn what life was like in the early days of Waddesdon Manor. It was quite interesting to hear about how their historic kitchens (now the Manor’s restaurant) functioned while preparing for an 1890’s weekend house party. As our host told us, it was very much like the old PBS program, “Upstairs Downstairs.”

Following the talk, we had a guided tour of the garden, which is enormous. It’s primarily a landscape-style garden with beautiful plantings, large trees and expansive lawns.

The next highlight of our day was lunch (see photo at right) in the Waddesdon restaurant, which was included as part of our visit. The food was wonderful and it was a treat to have a relaxed lunch while visiting with each other.

Afterwards, we were give a couple of hours for a self-guided tour through the manor house (talk about an impressive art collection!) and to see the rest of the gardens. They were the vision of Rothschild’s sister, Alice. To create them, they had a lot of soil removed in order to to create a flat garden, which was designed in the late-Victorian style. There were large beds for annual plantings (although not everything had been planted yet due to a cold winter and early spring), statuary, glasshouses and even an aviary, which was originally built for a visit by the Shah of Persia.

It was such a treat to have a restful day in the countryside and to have the opportunity to explore the manor house rather than just the gardens.

Both the gardens and the surrounding countryside were very peaceful. I noticed many of my group just sitting on a bench, enjoying the scenery. Oh, and they had a lovely gift shop, too!

 

And now for more garden photos:

 

This is the aviary (above), and an impressive fountain behind the manor house (below).

 

 

I enjoyed the planting in front of this statue. The flowers in the foreground are English daisies (Bellis perennis)… which seems quite appropriate for the setting!