Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Arundel Castle, England, Part III

In this post I will continue with my tour through the Arundel Castle grounds. After we visited the Chapel Garden and the Fitzalan Chapel of Arundel Castle we moved on to explore the grounds further.


(you can click on the photos to enlarge)


This beautiful red wrought iron gate was so inviting to walk through, already promising more lovely gardens to come.



And indeed, what be saw next surprised us and exceeded all our expectations. A formal garden with beautiful wooden structures, terracotta containers, lovely trees, and many interesting architectural features to look at. It completely convinced me that any garden, big or small, should hold a surprise, something extraordinary and unexpected just for the mere pleasure of the visitor and the gardener itself. By the way, in the background you see the Roman Catholic Arundel Cathedral, which was build for the 15th duke of Norfolk.



If I remember correctly the wife of the current duke of Norfolk is in charge of the design of the Arundel Castle Gardens nowadays. I think, she is doing a fabulous job blending traditional garden styles with modern elements and this way keeping the gardens fresh and exciting to visit. Again, if my memory does not fail me, this part of the gardens was called the Collector Earl's Garden. Interestingly, the urns and columns that you see in this area are made out of green oak rather than out of stone, which you may assume at the first glance when you look at them. I love the golden elements adorning the urns. They just add the right amount of "bling". In this garden many beautiful terracotta containers were used, which convinced me again that they have their place in a garden and can add so much charm to it. I wish I could grow 'lady's mantle', which is used at the feet of the urns surrounding the pond.



Close-up of one of the golden lion heads of the urns. On this photo you can clearly see that the urns are made out of wood rather than stone. I wonder why they choose to go with wood.



Looking into the opposite direction. Isn't it a breathtaking sight?



Here I took a picture from a slightly different angle. To the left you can see the red wrought iron entry gate. The whole composition of this area is just so perfect.



Just one more shot so that you get a more complex impression.



Architectural features blend perfectly with this garden.



A closer look at this building. I believe it is adorned with elk antlers. How neat is that?



Looking back at the Cathedral. I think that the urns, columns and the wooden pavilion structure visually go very well with the Cathedral in the background.



Here you see the large wooden tunnel like structure a little bit closer. Somehow my husband did not want to move out of my photos of this structure. So now he has to live with appearing on my blog, since this is the only photo that I have where you can see the structure as a whole.



He was really in a good mood that day and I am happy that he could enjoy visiting the gardens, too, since usually he is not into gardening at all. I am grateful that he is almost always willing to visit a public garden with me in which I am interested in. He is truly a good sport.

I love how the climbing plant is conquering the wooden structure and the chartreuse green plantings in the containers give such a nice contrast.



Here we are inside the wooden structure looking to one end where the use of the same urns that we saw outside already is repeated. I assume that they will plant something in the containers soon.



One last closer look. I would love to know if by now the have planted something in the containers and if so what they have chosen. Maybe any British readers or other visitors of Arundel Castle can satisfy my curiosity?

Just as a side note, on Thanksgiving we saw the movie "The Madness of King George". Arundel Castle was used to pretend to be Windsor Castle. Very good movie by the way, even though it tweaks history a little bit. If you want to see more of the Castle and like to watch a good movie I highly would recommend this one. 

If you want to see other parts of the Arundel Castle grounds tour, please click on the following links:

Part I (the formal rose garden) click here
Part II (the Chapel Garden and the Fitzalan Chapel) click here

See you in the garden!

Christina



8 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, walking through those beautiful red gates into such a fantastic garden filled with all of those wooden ornaments and structures. They are absolutely wonderful and I can see why your husband was in such a good mood.

    Thank you again for sharing this lovely tour. I am enjoying it.

    FlowerLady

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  2. Wow !!! Great garden, amazing symmetry !!!

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  3. FlowerLady, thanks for your nice comment, I am glad that you enjoyed the tour!

    Dani, I agree they worked quite a bit with symmetry in this garden and the effects were stunning!

    Christina

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  4. What a fantastic trip you have taken us!. So much to see. Must have been wonderful.
    Have a nice week
    Marijke

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  5. Wow. Wow. Wow. I love the 'bling', the wooden structures - who would have thought of using so much wood, especially for urns! - and the elk antlers. All amazing! I, too, wish I could grow ladies' mantle. Cute husband. He looks like a fun chap! ;)

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  6. Marijke, yes, it was an absolute fantastic trip for my husband and I! I am happy that I can share some of it here on my blog. Have a nice rest of the week, too!

    Holley, I am glad that you are also a "bling" fan :-)! My husband felt flattered when I told him that you think he's cute ;-)!

    Christina

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  7. Wooden urns are amazing! All the wooden structures look very warm! Your husband adds an additional interest to the picture! Thank you Christina!

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  8. Tatyana, I love the wooden urns and structures, too. Thanks for you nice words regarding my husband :-)!

    Christina

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