Monday 13 April 2009

Scotney Castle

Our visit to Scotney castle was a cold and windy day but well worth the hour treck from home!

Upon our arrival, we realised that only the day before had the new cafe and visitor centre been officially opened. So, in true expedition spirit, we promptly warmed up with some coffees and rather enjoyed the service and quality of the java!

Scotney Castle is actually a small castle at the foot of a hill upon which sits a massive manor house which was lived in up until the 1980s. The lady of the house finally passed it on to the National Trust upon her death as there were no heirs.

Walking around the inside of the "house", you could get a real sense of the incredible amount of maintenance that was required just to keep it looking okay. In fact, both she and her husband were living with water stained walls, deep long cracks, and loads of pretty intense maintenance problems. Goes to show that no matter how grandieose the setting, this place was a bear to keep in tip top shape. (Enter Joe's lesson in asset rich, cash poor people)

Nonetheless, it was a pretty incredible to walk through!

Here is the front of the house:


And the back:The back of the house overlooked the castle and moat - my favourite part of the whole property!
The castle is in ruins, something Joe and I thought was the natural cause of nature reclaiming itself over the years. We were shocked to discover that a previous owner during Victorian times had intentionally destroyed portions of the castle to create a more romantic feel to the place! The horror! Okay, we secretly liked it...


What a place, eh? And this was on just a portion of the entire estate!




















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