PGPT Day Outing to Northamptonshire 2008

The Menagerie at Horton, Castle Ashby and Earls Barton Church, Northamptonshire

£31.50 (Includes coach travel from Dereham or Norwich, admissions and morning coffee)

A triumph of restoration and backdrop to a modern 'period' garden developed in the last 25 years.

Rescued from dereliction in the 1970s by Gervase Jackson-Stops, The Menagerie is a magnicent Palladian foly now lived in as a family home.  A lime avenue, acaena covered mount and radiating allées emphasise the formal structure of the garden.  So does a recently completed walled garden with fountain.  In contrast to this, herbaceous borders, shrubberies and the recently extended exotic bog garden and native wetland area, add a touch of informality.  The grotto and little chapel in the grounds will be specially opened for us.  Only a short drive away is Castle Ashby where we shall have lunch.

Castle Ashby

Magnificent Elizabethan mansion with important 17th century additions, set in a vast park with 25 acres of terraced garden dating largely from the 1860s

The house (unfortunately not open) is noted especially for its balustraded roof-line decorated with texts from Psalm 127 and also for a very early yet accomplished Palladian south front (1630s) which closes off the courtyard of the Elizabethan house.  In 1868 Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt created the great terraces still bedded out in the Victorian style.  However, these form only a small part of the garden which also includes Wyatt's magnificent orangery and an arboretum.  The park stretches away for miles and includes a most attractive bridge over the lake.  After afternoon tea, we shall drive the short distance to