An afternoon visiting Wrest Park!
Wrest Park is a country estate located in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, England.
It comprises of a Grade I listed country house, and Wrest Park Gardens, also Grade I listed, formal gardens surrounding the mansion.
With over 90 spacious acres to explore, it was a good day out in the fresh air admiring the evolution of the English garden. Strolling through centuries of landscape design showcasing a range of styles including Dutch and Italian, wandering along the show-stopping formal Long Water walk and admiring the beautiful classical statues.
The 1830s house itself is remarkable, a near unique example of English architecture following the style of an 18th-century French chateau. Its grounds are a glorious amalgam of three centuries of English garden design, and contain one of the few remaining formal gardens of the early 18th century.
For over 600 years the Wrest estate was home to one of the leading aristocratic families in the country, the de Greys.
Each generation left its mark on the estate.
The family reached its greatest prominence when Edward IV made Edmund Grey his Lord Treasurer in 1463 and then Earl of Kent in 1465. More than 200 years later the formal gardens and the canal known as the Long Water were created by Amabel Benn, together with her son, Anthony, the 11th Earl, and his wife, Mary.
This is a huge estate including the house itself, a walled garden, Italian garden, Rose garden, Conservatory, Orangery, Bath House, Terrace & French Parterre, Pavilion and pond.
The gardens were the showstopper of the visit with carefully manicured borders.
A must see on a tour of England.
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