Thursday 9 April 2009

English Gardens


Gardens are where the heart is.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

~John Keats, Endymion (1818)

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is home to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Set in 2100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, the exquisite Baroque Palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and the magnificent Lake. Inside, the scale of the Palace is beautifully balanced by the intricate detail and delicacy of the carvings, the hand painted ceilings and the amazing porcelain collections, tapestries and paintings displayed in each room. Situated in Woodstock, just 8 miles from Oxford, the Palace was created a World Heritage site in 1987.
(Text taken from the official website.)

Click here for gorgeous photographs of Blenheim Palace. For more detailed information, interesting story and history, try here.



Waddesdon Manor Gardens

Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England. The house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898). The Baron, a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty, chose as his architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur. Today Waddesdon is owned by the National Trust, but in recent years, following an extensive restoration, it has been, and continues to be administered by a Rothschild family trust that is overseen by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild. The house was built on a barren hilltop overlooking Waddesdon village. (Information from Wikipedia.)



Waterperry Gardens

Waterperry Gardens consist of the Formal Garden, the Mary Rose Garden, a Waterlily Canal and the Long Colour Border, and a small arboretum in the meadow area beyond the canal has recently been planted. For information on the gardens, go here. For a collection of photographs, see here.

6 comments:

lune_blanc said...

I've been to Blenheim Palace when I lived in Oxford, and fell in love with the place, made a promise to myself to visit there again but didn't get a chance...
Beautiful photos, I bookmarked the Waterperry Gardens photo site, such pleasure to the eyes.

Poesis said...

Wah I've never been to any of these places! SAD! I wrote this post to remind myself of the beauty of English gardens and countryside, and how desperately I must visit...

lune_blanc said...

I love English gardens too, it's a shame I didn't make much time to visit places like these, and also time to visit different countries in Europe(I also love French style gardens too, which is like the opposit of English style lol). But I was too passionate and dedicated to studying fashion back then, if I had extra time I'd rather stayed at home and designing lol

Poesis said...

Wow... you were such a good student. I was more into 'my own thing' in university and at the end of the art history degree I'd gotten pretty fed up (haha). It was exactly what I needed to study philosophy for my master's after that (something so theoretical/abstract and as far away from material culture as possible), but even then I was not so hardworking until the thesis-writing period.

Do you still design? Perhaps costumes for your own dance performance? It must be really wonderful especially for someone with great aesthetics like yourself.

lune_blanc said...

Yes I was OBSESSED lol I forgot to do anything else.
Now I'm more mature and I know it's better to dicipline myself and make time to do different things, and also not to get too focused on one thing.

Haven't had much time to design clothes these days, but actually it's been a dream of mine to have my own shop or studio of dance costumes that I designed, i'm thinking of learning how to design and make dancewear properly :)

HIBISCUS HOUSE said...

I love your pictures and have posted on my pinterest. Thanks beautiful.

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