U3A Visit to Belton House

Today we had a trip with other members of the U3A Bury St. Edmunds to two National Trust properties near Grantham in Lincolnshire. The second of these, in the afternoon, was Belton House and its Estate.

This was the invite.

"In the afternoon we will visit Belton Estate where you will have free time to visit the house, gardens, café and shop.  Belton House was built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet.  It has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, said to be the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period.  It is considered to be a complete example of a typical English country house.  The claim has even been made that Belton’s principal façade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.

Generations of the Brownlow family made their mark on Belton, commissioning the finest designers and craftsmen of their age to shape Belton Estate.  The house and gardens showcase cutting edge design and innovation, from 17th century sash windows to a cast iron-framed conservatory in the Italian Garden, made possible thanks to the Industrial Revolution.  Belton House contains impressive art, silver and porcelain collections as well as a world-renowned library.  Outside there is a deer park, pleasure grounds and formal gardens of Dutch and Italian design." 

It didn't take long to get there from Woolsthorpe Manor and Dawn and I were soon eating our picnic lunch in the sun at a picnic table near the entrance to the house.

Here are a few of my photos.

After our lunch, we toured the house first.

The library is impressive.

There are good views of the estate from the windows.

This Chinese bedroom is decorated in hand-painted wallpaper, hung in 1830 but probably made much earlier.

The house is stuffed with paintings, mostly portraits, but here is a landscape of the estate.

The we joined a tour of the gardens before going for an explore of the grounds.

Ian was our guide.

The Italianate gardens and impressive conservatory.

The topiary is very neat. They have a team of about 6 gardeners with several more part-timers

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The mirror pond wasn't mirror-like today as it was too breezy/

There was a display about te different sorts of daffodil...

...and masses of daffodils in flower.

We stopped on the East Avenue to look at the views in each direction.

The formal gardens viewed from the back of the house.

We then visited the church and conservatory.

We finished by following the deer trail through the woods to the River Witham and found some deer.

We returned along the South Drive...

...and found some more deer.

Then it was back on the bus to head for home, arriving back at Ram Meadow car park at about 6:20pm.

Thank-you Pat for organising another great trip, and Adam for the smooth ride on the coach.

You can find more of my photos here on Flickr.