We went to a little castle near Stirling called Doune Castle …it is the most intact original interior of the castles in Scotland.

Doune is a popular filming location and has featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Game of Thrones and Outlander.

 Yes we stood next to the curtain wall where Arthur was told to go and boil his bottom and in the great hall which was Castle Anthrax where Sir Galahad did not want to be rescued from all of the nubile young maidens.

Doune also featured as the home of the Mackenzie in Outlander and where many of the scenes in the city of Winterfell in Game of Thrones were filmed.

We enjoyed this one.

From here we went on to Blackness Castle. A really forbidding place, cold, windy and dark. This castle was used as Fort William in Outlander. It was where Captain Randall almost whips Jamie to death.

Really forbidding.

The pictures say it all.

The cathedral was begun in 1096 by Abbot Herbert de Losinga who had bought the bishopric for £1,900.

The church still retains a great part of its original stone structure and they demolished two churches and an Anglo Saxon village to build it. The floor plan remains largely as it was designed as well.

The cathedral has an unusually long nave of fourteen bays and the stunning Norman architecture is all around you from towering arches to simple doorways. Enjoy the photos.

Within a year of the Conquest, William the Conqueror, began construction of a new motte and bailey fortress here. This is the only castle that William the Conqueror built in East Anglia and is one of 48 mentioned in the Doomsday Survey.

From the outside it is outstanding. Built on the largest motte in England, this keep is regarded as the most highly decorated Keep in England.

Inside is just as impressive with stunning Norman carving and an outstanding carved doorway which was constructed by Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.  

It also contains a museum.

Enjoy.

As we were driving around Suffolk we noticed a lot of churches with round towers … a late Savon feature… so we asked the locals about some of the more interesting ones and here they are.

St Margaret’s, Breckles

The oldest part of the church is the impressive, tapering round tower, which dates to the first half of the 11th century.

The lower tower is Saxon and the body and the body of the church spans is a mix of 13th and 15th-century work.

The most interesting feature of St Margarets is the amazing Norman font. This is a square bowl set upon five round pillars. All four sides are beautifully carved in late Saxon or early Norman designs. The south and west sides are carved with a mix of foliage (Saxon) and carved heads (Norman).

On the north face is a design of interlaced arcaded arches, while the east side shows four robed figures, possibly churchmen, standing under more rounded arches. There is also carving on the top of the bowl.

One of the best I have seen where you can see both Saxon and Norman carving.

Wymondham Abbey

The construction of this abbey church was completedin 1130 and only the nave of the former church of St Mary and St Thomas of Canterbury survives as a parish church.

The stunning Norman nave survives  ... some photos for you.

The amazing story of this church is the fighting that went on between the monks and the townsfolk about who should be in control of which parts of the abbey. It raged for 200 years.

The argument was referred to Pope Innocent IV in 1249, and the Pope rather wisely divided responsibility fairly equally, with the priory granted control of the south west tower, south aisle, transepts. eastern chapels, and quire. The townsfolk for their part were awarded the nave, north aisle, and north west tower.

The central tower had to be rebuilt in the mid-14th century, and in the process the monks sealed off part of the new tower, effectively blocking access between 'their' church and the parochial church. In a tit for tat war both sides sealed passages and seized control of tower access in turn. The townsfolk then carried the conflict further by seizing the Prior's Lodging and prevented him from saying Mass.

Henry IV asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to rule on the dispute, and the Archbishop came down on the side of the townsfolk and reaffirmed Innocent IV's division of the church. The townsfolk were allowed to hang three bells in the north west tower, but required not to ring them when it might disturb the monks. Then the townsfolk petitioned the king for permission to build a new, higher tower so they could hear the bells more clearly. Sir John Clifton of Wymondham threw his support behind the project and in 1445 the two short Norman towers were taken down and replaced by a new west tower.

St Marys, Thornham Parva

Much of the fabric of St Mary's Church dates from the 12th century, and it is a Grade I listed building. A church on the site was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and there are still traces of Anglo-Saxon stonework in the present building

Around 1330 a group of Norwich craftsmen produced a huge painted retable, or altarpiece (12 feet long), for the monks of Thetford priory. This has ended up here. It is stunning and is one of the finest pieces of medieval art in the UK … that fact that it is sitting in a quiet country church is remarkable

As you step into the church you see the other major historic treasure; a series of 14th century wall paintings taking up most of both walls. You can also see two remaining Saxon windows

All Saints, Wordwell

On the outside this church looks like the Victorian have renovated it to death but his simple church contains superb Saxon, Norman and medieval carvings.

All Saints is built to a simple two-cell design, with a nave and chancel, and a small south porch. You go through the porch and the first thing you see is a stunningly simple Norman door with a carved tympanum in extremely primitive style, suggesting, perhaps, an even earlier origin than the 12th century. The door posts capitals are also carved, with primitive figures of men.

Across the nave from this door is another door also capped by a carved tympanum, this is a late Saxon carving.

The Church was amazing as again you see both late Saxon and early Norman carving still in place

  We signed on to a guided tour of Oxford University … It was a bit different from the other tours as this one took us to one College in particular Exeter College Oxford's fourth oldest college. It has occupied much of its present site since its foundation in 1314 and was founded by the Bishop of Exeter during the reign of Edward II.

The buildings were beautiful … we saw the Chapel, the Refectory, and their gardens. There are two gardens one you can use as a garden the other you cannot walk on the grass …a bit odd.

Costs to go to University in the UK is 9,500 pounds per year no matter what university you go to pretty good till you realise you also have to pay for accommodation ,food and extra tuition. One of the couples on the tour commented that it costs about 50,000 pounds for a three year course … that is about $100k.

We had a quick tour around Oxford … saw the Rotunda (now a library), the Bridge of Sighs and the Bodleian Library.

We stopped and had lunch then continued on to the Ashmolean.

I have wanted to go here as the Alfred Jewel is here … they have a tour that includes it. Unfortunately the tour only runs in the morning however one of the ladies behind the counter volunteered to give us a quick tour …for free.

This was the highlight of the museum for me … couldn’t get a really good photo of it as the lighting was tricky but I was a happy camper.

On a previous trip we visited a place called Oddas Chapel and we were happy to see the original foundation stone here. Some interesting photos for you llok out for the early map it was amazing.

Lovely city and great Museum

Over a couple of days we have visited two stately homes, Evesham and the Weald and Downland Museum and yes we are exhausted.

Blenheim Palace

This place was bigger than Ben Hur and so opulent … it is hard to imagine the wealth that created it. The birthplace of Winston Churchill and still the home of the Duke of Marlborough it is magnificent.

We had a special tour of the kitchens and a wander through the state rooms. No photos were allowed in the kitchen so I have added a couple of photos of the state rooms. We find the workings of these houses much more interesting than the grand rooms.

Interestingly the laundry room was fitted out with Miele washer dryers (5 of them) some of them were 40 years old and still going strong. The kitchen was all stainless steel on top of Victorian tables and we saw the luggage entrance … yes today this is still used for guests’ luggage … the guests of course use a much grander entrance.

Hughenden

This is the home of Benjamin Disraeli a Prime Minister of Great Britain. The house was warm and cosy and had a library to die for … I want this room. The Dining room was also stunning.

However the visit was overshadowed by the weather. It was freezing and pouring and the car park was half a mile away from the house so we got soaked by the time we got there. The front entrance had a lovely roaring fire but the rest of the house was unheated. Thankfully we hitched a lift on a golf buggy back to the car.

Evesham

This is a little market town that had a large Abbey and is famous for the Battle of Evesham.

This battle was between the King Henry III and Simon De Montfort.

He led the barons in their opposition to the rule of King Henry III of England, culminating in the Second Barons' War (first one resulted in Magna Carta). Following his initial victories over royal forces, he became de facto ruler of the country, and played a major role in the constitutional development of England.

Simon was born in France and married Eleanor the sister of King Henry. He was famous for trying to make the King accountable to parliament and is known as the father of parliament.

The Battle of Evesham was a massacre with the Kings forces outnumbering Simon’s force.  Simon and two of his sons were killed in the battle.

The brothers from the Abbey gathered what was left of his body and gave it a decent burial near the altar of the Abbey church. Two years late the King had it dug up and buried somewhere else as Simon’s grave was becoming a site of pilgrimage.

He is of course one of my favourites. I forgot to mention Lady Godiva ...  yes the real one ... she was from around this area and was a patron of the abbey. When her husband Leofric died in 1067 she retired to the abbey and may well be buried here.

Weald and Downland Museum

This place is an independent Museum, they rescue and conserve historic buildings, teach traditional trades and crafts to ensure their preservation and they share the stories of rural life and those who lived it in the South East of England for the last 1000 years.

There are Victorian farms and two Anglo Saxon buildings all donated and rebuilt on this 40 acre site.

An amazing place we have put up a couple of pictures.