Stourhead

On our way back from our minibreak in Bournemouth, my parents and I stopped off at a National Trust property we hadn't been to for a long time: Stourhead.

Stourhead is considered to have one of the most beautiful gardens in the country, so I was quite excited to explore it again and to take some pictures for this blog!

The main part of the garden is based around a large lake, but there are some other things to see on the way down to the lake from the property's entrance, including this pretty little cottage and church.

Once you get to the lake, you are greeted with amazing views of the Bristol Cross and the Palladian Bridge, with the Pantheon in the distance.

The garden was inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, and the route that visitors follow around the lake was designed to represent Aeneas's descent into the underworld.

The entire route is dotted with beautiful temples and other interesting attractions, and as you walk around, you discover a new scenic view at every turn, such as these ones of the Temple of Apollo...

...and this one of the Temple of Flora.

After I'd been walking round the lake for a while, a stone archway suddenly appeared in front of me. I passed through it, and then through another one, and I was inside the Grotto! This was one of my favourite parts of the garden, as it had statues of a god and a goddess inside, and its atmosphere was quite spooky and mysterious.

Shortly after I came out the other side of the Grotto, I found the Gothic Cottage...

...and a very short distance later, I finally arrived at the most iconic temple in the garden: the Pantheon. Inspired by the building of the same name in Rome, it is designed to be a temple to all the gods, and inside you can find statues depicting several of them. When I was inside it, I did have the sense, just for a little while, that I was on holiday somewhere in Italy!

As I made my way along the other side of the lake, back towards my starting point, there was one final sight that took me by surprise. This stunning waterfall was very peaceful both to look at and to listen to.

Once I'd finished exploring the garden, I went to take a quick look at Stourhead's house before we went home. It's a very large Palladian mansion, with a gateway that looks a lot like a castle.

The trip to Stourhead was a nice way to round off what was overall a very enjoyable minibreak. During those two days away, I visited a tropical garden full of palm trees, and swam in the sea off a beach with golden sand, in addition to exploring this garden with its temples that are reminiscent of Italy and Greece. And all this with temperatures in the high 20s! Not too bad for a British holiday...

Since we got back, I've managed to fit in one more little trip during my time off, and I'll be writing about that next...