Croome with(out) a view

I hope you've all been having the stunning weather that we have had here in Worcestershire over the past week!  It gradually got warmer and warmer until Thursday when I was burnt to a crisp whilst doing some painting outside in the garden.  As a consequence I had to wear long sleeves when we visited Croome Court and park on Friday.

Croome (managed by the National Trust) is in South Worcestershire, and our 45 minute journey there was memorable for the fact that we didn't pass through any towns or cities, it was just all pretty country roads, absolute heaven!  

The property itself was remodelled by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, his first commission, and the interiors were done by Robert Adam.  There are no furnished rooms in the property, as it has had many varied uses over the past 100 years, namely a boys school and during the Second World War it housed the Dutch royal family and RAF Defford.  It has also been used by Hare Krishnas.  

We were expecting the usual spectacular views of the Malverns from Croome, but unfortunately, due to the previous day's hot weather and apparently lots of sand blowing in from the Sahara, the Malverns were shrouded in mist.  They are usually pretty obvious from the view below

It was warm enough for sandals though

As I said, the insides are pretty bare, there are still a few grand bits on show, namely this fantastic marble Adam fireplace, the mantle is well over six feet off the ground

Rather splendid ceilings

Ridiculously high doorways with broken pediments (I'm using OH for scale here as he is 6'2" tall)

and ornate plasterwork and gilding, redone by the Hare Krishnas I believe

I have to admit this isn't my taste

Outside, we wandered around a small part of the substantial grounds, which appear to stretch as far as the eye can see and are pretty much man made by Capability Brown.  He created a lake, and a river, designed and built many follies and this lovely church which he positioned on top of a hill, the interior being designed by Robert Adam

Each twist and turn of a path in the grounds reveals follies, I do love this rotunda

More interesting gateways!

and the odd statue dotted here and there, this one is of Pan

and some modern additions!

The house itself is presently undergoing a huge amount of restoration work, and is almost completely covered in scaffolding and protective wrapping

A shame but ultimately necessary.

Back to reality, and this week I managed only one bargain buy in the charity shops, this rather nice knitted and fringed waistcoat from the Indigo range at M&S.

                                            At a pound I think it was a great buy!

Have you had any good finds this week?  Do tell if you have!!