Upton House

The house goes back a few centuries but is best known for its twentieth-century owners, Lords and Ladies Bearsted, aka Shell Oil, who enlarged and renovated, re-did the gardens, and bought some art.

Upton House, garden side

A number of nice small Steens in the long gallery

And an obligatory Canaletto

Sir Josh Reynolds' Lord and Lady Ely

In the big bedroom, 1920s home entertainment center

And here, and the next few, the trademark of
this house, the art deco bath, done in aluminum
leaf...

Yes,aluminum leaf

More precious aluminum leaf

Art deco toilet?

I guess it was in the contract that Shell Oil be glorified in
the displays

Elder Breughel's Dormition of Mary; barely recognizable as
a Breughel

A teeniny El Greco

And a Bosch Adoration, amply authenticated, but hardly
comparable to the similar one in the Prado

Vicki scrutinizes the Bosch, just to be sure

The garden is basically in a canyon, England's largest HaHa,
but is pleasant to look at

The family live in a "modern" mansion next door and raise
racing horses; above, an aristocratic horse sneers our way

The gardens from on low

Hidcote Garden

After Dover's Hill, we drove on another, oh, maybe 10 miles, to our next site, Hidcote Garden. The garden is the century-old work of one man, Major Lawrence Johnston, an American-turned-Brit, who traveled widely, both in the military and out, in search of plant species to populate his English gardens. Hidcote Garden is largely a set of outdoor "rooms" each a distinct garden. It was a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon and the place was very nearly crowded.

In the modest "museum" of Johnston's life--a garden shed

A globe showing some of his travels

Document concerning his gift of Hidcote to
the National Trust; he estimated five full-time
gardeners would be needed; the Trust in fact
employs 13 here, plus part-timers, and a small
army of devoted volunteers; it is an amazing
organization

HaHa, horse, statue 

Wildflowers in one of the forested areas

Many species we've seen before, and some we haven't

Artsy pose

One of the water rooms

Another--for us--exotic

Beauty everywhere

Tree sculpture?

In addition to the croquet, Hidcote also has a tennis court
available to visitors (this was the last day of Wimbledon)

And, not least, an award-winning loo

Chipping Campden

We drove through Stowe-on-the-Wold and Moreton-on-the-Marsh, noting in both cases how large they seemed and how much traffic there was, whether on-the-Wold or in-the-Marsh. Not quaint like they are supposed to be. I had also tried walking from Boredom-on-the-Water to the Slaughters, Upper and Downer, but was defeated by road construction, poor signage, and lack of interest. (I did pass by the shopping estate and residential areas where real people in B-on-the-W apparently shop and live.) We decided to skip Chippingham-on-Toast since we were there last time. But, we were far more favorably impressed with Chipping Campden, which seemed like a normal small town, with no more than the usual number of tea rooms and B&Bs, and no visible trinket shoppes. It even advertised its modest history. And was very pleasant on the eyes too.

We walked down the Cotswold Way from Dover's Hill, but
ended up on a "variant" through a field of wheat; we
are still learning the fine points of British trail signage...

The usual front yard gardens walking through town

The 1627 market hall on High Street, built by local nice guy
Baptist Hicks (Chipping means market, I understand)

Vaulting therein, restored by the National Trust, which now
owns the property

Down the street a bit, in the little "Chinese" Johnston city
garden; apparently the school kids have misbehaved; we
regret...

Founded c. 1440...

Today's wedding

Chipping Campden church

Charity house built by Baptist Hicks

Inside the church, this touching monument,
unveiled after her death (he preceded her by
some 38 years), Baptist and the Baptissa

Grevel House, oldest stone house in Chipping Campden

And more beautiful floral displays

Everywhere

On Dover's Hill

We spent the next two days and nights parked on Dover's Hill, another National Trust Property. Dover's Hill is on a long high ridge in the eastern Cotswolds, with stupendous views, the whole northern 180 degrees, just  up from Chipping Campden, ten miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Very popular locally for walking, dog-walking, appreciating the views, watching the sheep, etc.

Yes, the Trust does natural sites as well as
homes and gardens

Looking about; you can see the mountains to the west...

If you know where to look

Lying down in green pastures

Sitting down in green pastures; actually this is a familiar
sight in any public park or garden, particularly on a Sunday

Dover's Hill was for aeons the site of the Cotswold Oympicks,
regional games and contests, recently revived, similar to the
Highland Games; shin-kicking one of the favorite events;
along with the hangings, beheadings, and drawings and
quarterings, these were brutal times...

Dover's Hill is on the Cotswold Way, one of
the major walks, and we enjoyed a few short
hikes out in the countryside and down the
hill to

Chipping Campden