And now, finally, I'm at the end of our September 2016 trip to England! Some things just take time, you know. And all good things must come to an end, except in our memories.
"In a beautiful valley of the river Frome, on the border between Wiltshire and Somerset and only nine miles from Bath, stands the remains of Farleigh Hungerford Castle."
And so it was that Lisl drove me the 9 miles from her home to visit an English castle.
The drive itself was worth the trip, along with the cream tea (with scones) we ate along the way.
Sir Thomas Hungerford, first Speaker of the House of Commons,
fortified the manor house between 1370-1380.
His family then lived there for 200 years.
Two towers and curtain walls, plus the chapel and crypt, remain.
As we entered the castle gate, we immediately discovered a wedding photo-shoot happening.
So we took a quick walk-about, playing Peeping Toms both in and out of wee drizzles.
So we took a quick walk-about, playing Peeping Toms both in and out of wee drizzles.
Then off we went to the museum to get the lay of the land.
The areal view (bottom-left) gives the gist of the space we walked.
From the museum we walked first to the 17th century crypt below the Chapel of St. Anne.
It contains the lead coffins of 6 adults and 2 children, 4 with faces molded onto them.
"This is probably the best collection of 16th-17th century anthropomorphic coffins in the country."
Castles and their own wee chapels! I have grown to love them.
It was originally the parish church of St. Leonard, later made the castle chapel (St. Anne's Chapel).
Look at those medieval wall paintings...the font and the pulpit!
It's still used for local events...like weddings?
The burial tombs are off to the side of the nave,
including Sirs Thomas and Edward Hungerford with their wives.
Notice the coats of arms on the walls.
I was particularly drawn to the ornate flat-topped tombs.
Lisl says the right-center tomb depicts the entire family, with children.
Back outside, we walked the outer courtyards with the remains of 2 towers.
The SW tallest tower, called the Lady Tower, is reputed to be where Hungerford
imprisoned his wife, Lady Elizabeth, in the 1530's.
If these walls could talk!
Yes, I really was there (thanks to Lisl).
As we left the historic site, the sun, which had played with us all day, came out.
Just one of England's castles, of course, but in Lisl's own backyard
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Possibly a bit antithetically, these are the weathervanes we found that day.
Even Lisl is now on the lookout for me, she says. :)
THANK YOU!
