Hello, everyone.
Over the weekend, we visited Wollaton Hall and Deer Park in Nottingham. It was a lovely day to explore and discover more about an area we hadn't visited before.
We looked around the Hall's interior and read about its long past and more recent history.
Sir Francis Willoughby built the Hall between 1580 and 1588 and richly decorated it. He possibly hoped that Queen Elizabeth I - the ruling monarch at the time - would visit.
Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth never came to Wollaton Hall.
Maybe the distraction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and constant intrigues at court kept the Queen's diary full!
We particularly liked the painted ceiling and walls of one of the staircases, which were added by subsequent owners.
Although the Hall remained in the family until the early 1880s, Nottingham Council eventually bought it in 1925. They opened it the following year as the city's natural history museum. There is a large selection of stuffed animals, birds and reptiles on display, but we were not fond of them. However, we found the geological displays with fossils and minerals much more enjoyable. We also saw Titus the T Rex dinosaur, or at least his bones were on display.
We also learn that filmmakers used the Hall as part of the set for "Batman- the Dark Knight Rises" in 2011.
While at Wollaton Hall, we also visited their tea room for coffee and cake.
This was D's choice: Jammie Dodger Blondie.
Afterwards, we took a leisurely walk down to the lake and saw some of the wildlife swimming in the water.
However, our favourite part of the day was the close encounters with the resident deer in the park. It was hot and sunny yesterday, and these young bucks were taking shelter under a large tree close to our walking path. There were two types of deer at the park: Red Deer and Fallow deer.
We took lots of photos of them.
Tomorrow is a Bank holiday here in England, and although it looks to be wet, it will be good to spend time together as a family. Whether you have the day off tomorrow or not, have a good week, everyone.
A lovely visit. And how exciting to get so close to the deer. Xx
ReplyDeleteWe had a lovely time at Wollaton. It was an unexpected treat to be so close to the deer.
DeleteI've never been there - it looks really lovely. xx
ReplyDeleteThe weather was perfect for strolling around the grounds and we will certainly be revisiting Wollaton.
DeleteHow wonderful, I know it well and used to lived not far away for a while, many years ago, in student accommodation. We still have friends live nearby and they walk there often. We last visited when there was a huge dinosaur exhibition. The deer are wonderful aren't they? Glad you had a great day out. Enjoy the bank holiday:)
ReplyDeleteI think it was from one of your early blogs that I found out about Wollaton. So a big thank you, Rosie. Hope you enjoyed the Bank holiday too x
DeleteLooks lovely, a bit far away from us, I always prefer the grounds and gardens, hardly ever going inside these large houses.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't spend very long inside the Hall but the fossils and minerals were worth looking at. Stuffed animals not so much! It is possible to walk around the lake which we will do another time and there is also a walled garden which we will also do next time. A great day out for us.
DeleteMy first visit to Wollaton Hall was as a child, we had friends in the area so we visited with them. In more recent years, it's somewhere we visited when we went to see Eleanor at uni. It's such a lovely place and the grounds are lovely for a stroll.
ReplyDeleteIt was our first visit there and we were so pleased to have found it. A really wonderful place and the deer are beautiful. We found it hard to tear ourselves away from them.
DeleteBeautiful deer with amazing antlers.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly need strong necks to carry all that weight on their heads. It was an amazing sight to see so many of them in one place and so close.
DeleteThat looks like a lovely outing...and a yummy treat to enjoy as well! Enjoy your bank holiday...we have a long weekend/holiday here in the States as well. I'm hoping mine includes something yummy off of the grill:)
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day out and D made a very good choice of cookie with our coffee. She might even make some herself which would be nice. I hope you have enjoyed your long weekend/holiday as well. I wonder if you managed some yumminess to celebrate :-)
DeleteIt's Memorial Day in the States...we honor our military Heroes past on...and present.
ReplyDeleteI love the house? Castle? Gorgeous!
hugs
Donna
A very special day of memories and honour for you all over there. Sending my respects to all your heroes. We had a really lovely day out and will be going back there before too long.
DeleteIt looks as if you had a lovely day out exploring! The castle is gorgeous and so are the grounds. The deer are beautiful! And that's a delicious looking cup of coffee and cake. Hope you are enjoying the long weekend. It's Memorial Day here where I live. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of things to enjoy on our trip to Wollaton, so much more than we expected with the added bonus of sunshine. Thinking of you all on your special Memorial Day.
DeleteWonderful photo's. Isn't it amazing how old some buildings are. I love history, and find it inspiring that we can stand, and walk in the same areas as people that long ago. Great share.
ReplyDeleteI have always enjoyed visiting historical buildings too. They all have a facinating story to tell.
DeleteThat looked a very enjoyable visit to Wollaton Hall and Deer Park.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly got some wonderful photographs of the deer, I enjoyed seeing them.
I hope you've enjoyed the Bank Holiday ... wishing you a good week ahead.
All the best Jan
Thank you, Jan. We had a lovely day and the deer were wonderful to see.
DeleteHave a good week yourself.
I must have missed this blog post. Nevertheless it was good to see the deer and know that you had a lovely day in the deer park. All the best to you and daughter D. Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. It was a lovely family day out and the weather was perfect.
DeleteTake care and enjoy the rest of the week.
Oh my goodness, these are fabulous photos! That’s quite a palatial home and a wonderful shot overlooking the trees, loved the photo of the goose and branches in the water. As for your jammy dodger blondie, never would have thought of putting those two together but what a great idea, delicious! Next time I make blondies I will be heading to my British shop to pick up those Jammy Dodgers. Great to see the Red Deer and Fallow deer. Magnificent animals. I hope you had a wonder Bank Holiday with your family.
ReplyDeletep.s. fascinating history on the hall. I also was very interested that they used it for the Batman movie. I am going to show my son your post as he is a fan of these movies. Enjoy your week :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Denise. The deer were beautiful and it was wonderful to get that close and take photos of them. Those antlers must be very heavy as they get larger each year. They must have very strong neck muscles. The blondies were very tasty. D likes to experiment with her baking so it gave her a few new ideas. I didn't know about the connection with the Batman movie before visiting either.
DeleteEnjoy the rest of your week x
I'm glad you had such a great trip.
ReplyDeleteI would like to visit this beautiful mansion with its magnificent park.
Thank you for your information and beautiful photos.
Many kind regards come to you from Viola
You would love the park and the deer, Viola.
DeleteI really enjoyed your post. I've toured England twice and have English ancestry--I never get enough of England. And such wonderful photographs of the deer. The Hall must be amazing, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ann. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing just a little part of the Wollaston grounds and the architecture of the Elizabethan Hall. There are so many lovely places to visit in the UK.
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