Kentchurch Court

The Scudamore Bear

Leaving the Laskett Garden our travels took us deeper into Herefordshire to Kentchurch Court nestling under Garway Hill in the Monnow Valley.

The Lucas-Scudamore family have lived here for almost 1,000 years

The house dates from the 14th century, but the family trace their roots back to 1042 when Ralph Scudamore came to Herefordshire from Normandy and built a castle in Ewyas Harold for Edward the Confessor

Deer roam the surrounding parkland

Kentchurch Court is an English C14 fortified manor house sitting in five thousand acres close to the Welsh borders. In 1795 the interior of the house was modernised in the Gothic Style by John Nash using a schedule of designs put forward earlier by Anthony Keck.  In 1820 Thomas Tudor completed the alterations by adding a new front door and a barrel vaulted ceiling to the hallway

Lunch was taken beneath the watchful eyes of some Scudamore ancestors - there was also some fine Grinling Gibbons wood carving to admire.

First and foremost Kentchurch Court is a family home run by Jan Lucas-Scudamore, the very welcoming and friendly owner. She took us on a private tour of the house, but had to abandon us towards the end leaving us in the very capable hands of her young daughter and baby grandson

Strolling around the grounds and gardens I reflected on how wonderful the flowers have been this year. Even roadside verges resemble colourful herbaceous borders

All gardens, my own included, are filled with Aqualegias showing off their many different hues from white through to deepest purple. What promiscuous but pretty little flowers they are busily seeding themselves everywhere!

The Kentchurch walled gardens held a huge varied of colourful flowers all jostling for attention 

A Gothic Perpendicular window on the far side of the house floods the interior hallway with light

Across the lawn a pathway leads into a Rhododendron wood which then goes down to a tributary of the Monnow river

A Flame/Fire Tree grows in the woods

I am not very familiar with these trees but believe this one is Embothrium coccineum - Chilean Fire Tree

It would have been lovely to walk down to the river

but it was time to take our leave