Mottisfont Part Two

After the little trip we had round the rose garden and a bite of lunch my wife & I went for a walk round the main house. Before you start be warned this is a long blog so coffee might be in order.

Looking at the front here I doubt you would think it used to be a priory

But look at the left hand side of the building and you see the outline of the church and the windows in it. 

This is a view over towards the building itself

The back lawns have statues surrounding it 

This one stands on it's own  not far from this summerhouse or Folly which has some of the original floor tiles in it

which are from the priory

even some of the roof tiles were use

Beside that is an animal cemetery

 and behind what looks suspiciously like a stone coffin

The side of the building here is where you enter the house to look round.

You go round the house in sequence visiting one of the studies and along one of the corridors

back into a day room where people were making themselves at home

Dining rooms

One of the rooms had some pre-decimal coins on it. So for  those of you who have never seen any there is a threepenny bit, two half crowns and a penny that is about 27pence now.

Tea laid out for one.

This has to be my favourite place, the servants quarters on the top floor

My wife was taken with this room

they even got their own hot water bottle

could not go down here but it showed some of the Tudor beams supporting the roof

could not go in the bathroom either turns out the Russell Children were given a crocodile as a pet and surprisingly it was ordered from Harrods. They kept it in the servants bathroom till it got too big and was given to London Zoo. Sure I'd be impressed shearing a bath with that.

 The Dumbwaiter that we walked up past along the stairs

upstairs scullery

with real carbolic soap

hotwater bottle again and a carpet beater

 My mum had one of these cloths horses, I use to be always taking it and making a tent out of it

chambermaids room

 With hat

good old singer sewing machine

bed and another hotwater bottle (Had to keep your feet warm)

 And the uniform waiting to be put on

 on the fireplace was a letter that had been read

Heading back down the stairs you notice this arch which is part of the original priory church, you can still see the colored paint on it

going round the ground floor proved interesting as in this room over the door was

this mural

and beside it part of the old church exposed for people to see.

another room

showed this arch

this was an interesting room all darkened

it was all painted and in 3D

even this paint pot had been pained on by the artiest who died in the second was and never got to finish his work

There was an art show on in one of the galleries and after happily snapping away It was pointed out by one of the guides I should not be taking photos, should have taken more notice of the sign as we went in.

After going outside and round the building we came back in another entrance that would have lead into the church had it been there.

inside you could see some of the old pillars from the church cloisters

Looking through one of the doors which lead off to a room showed more pillars and old archways

You might recognize  this as it is a photo of the cloisters at Lacock Abbey and represents what would have been here

This would have been part of the cloisters from the picture behind me

The boxed area at the end has this photo inside and explanation beside it

Going through to the old kitchen now the tea and coffee shop is also interesting as the arch is from the time of the priory

stand in the archway & look up at some of the beautiful work from the priory days

Don't think the kitchen is though but it's clever how you sit and eat over the old range there

Or sitting in front of the old ovens

Back outside you see this lavender bed. See the door across the bed well I'll tell you what is through there in a while

The lavender bed is here

In the corner is the mosaic Angel or Mottisfont

go on top of the nearby building and you get a good look at the lavender bed

Remember the door I mentioned well through it  is this the old Cellerium

which is part of the original priory and where hey kept wine & provisions

I think I have bored you long enough now but before I end the blog the sign here tells you how Mottisfont got it's name

And this is the spring that it was built round, you can see the water flowing in at the bottom when you look in to it. If you have time to visit then I would make the effort especially when the roses are out.
I'll leave you with a view of the rose garden which is why we visited.

Hope you enjoyed your trip to Mottisfont. For more information see the National Trust Website