Tag Archives: Gardens
Chirk Castle – how to survive a civil war
A family trip to Chirk Castle cleared up a mystery that’s sat around in my head for a while. I’ve often wondered why the castle survived intact into the modern era when so many others are ruined and stripped of their stone following the English Civil War when Parliamentarians opposed King Charles and the country […]
Gardens and eccentricity
How to make gardens more appealing to children? Add grottoes. Henry Oakley purchased the Dewstow Estate, near Newport, in 1893 and being a keen horticulturist, he commissioned London landscapers Pulham and Son to create a garden with subterrean elements. Without descendants, when Oakley died in 1940, the estate reverted to pastureland, the hidden aspects filled […]
