My quest to discover new National Trust properties took me to Croome House and Gardens in the heart of Worcestershire countryside. The day was glorious for March and just the weather to go exploring a new place. Arriving right on opening time, I took my map and quickly planned my visit. I had an hour before the house doors opened so I made my way along to the lake with an island feature at the end of the property. The tag line for Croome is expect the unexpected. There is certainly lots of unexpected views and points of interest along the path. The photographs provide an insight into the different views that can be seen at Croome. There are several outhouses and statues along the way. The lake had the final mist of the morning lingering on the edges with views of main house. Following on from the lake, I soon found myself approaching the house and the wooden bridge over the river made a good feature for framing the house in the background. This picture is the main feature of my blog and also made the BBC Midlands weather bulletin for that day.
The house was interesting. Whilst it initially looked bare there were several strategically placed objects including urns that I was reliably informed were rare and individual. The house was slowly unpacking furniture and other items that were being loaned by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The wooden boxes looked very surreal in several of the rooms. There was a range of boxes in various stages of unpacking. One part that I really loved was where the bone china was being displayed. It was a glass and mirrored display box that you could walk into. The reflection of the plates was surreal. I took the opportunity to take different photographs including lying on the floor looking upwards with my camera. The results were quite incredible.
Walking out of the house into the expanse of the grounds, I carried on the path discovering outbuildings that commanded great views of the surrounding countryside. The final delight was the beautifully simple church with the afternoon sun shinning into it. This made for some good picture opportunities.
The National Trust link to Croome provides further information on visiting the property.