Since we had our car until the end of the day Saturday, and had to clear out of the cottage by 10:00 AM, we figured we’d be silly not to stop off somewhere on the way back to London. Using my trusty National Trust handbook, I located Stourhead House and Garden, in Wiltshire (so not too far from Stonehenge), just off the A303. I’m so happy we decided to stop here.
So, big Pride and Prejudice fan. And I totally got my Lizzie Bennett visiting Pemberley house visit (though I have to say, the house itself actually reminded me more of Netherfield in the Kiera Knightley P&P movie). I only figured out after the fact that the first proposal in the Keira Knightley P&P was filmed here.
The garden here is a classic, Capability Brown era landscape garden, complete with grotto and artfully placed faux-Roman temples. It was completely wonderful to wander around (especially after about three hours in the car at that point). They did have a really neat walled garden, though Heligan’s was still better.
The house was really neat, too. First: it’s still lived in. There’s a lovely drawing room on the tour with amazing furniture and tons of art on the wall, and the current owner’s tv in the corner. Second: again, I totally got my P&P experience. Everything looked straight out of a Regency-era movie. It was probably even more special because I’d literally looked it up the night before, and had no expectations of visiting a place like this. Totally made the England portion of the trip complete to me.