Greys Court and Rotherfield Greys village, Oxfordshire

We visited Greys Court, Rotherfield Greys near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in May and returned to have lunch in the village during our last visit in August.

During our visit to Greys Court we saw some wonderful mature trees and shrubs set in a beautiful countryside estate.

Mr P was interested in the vine climbing up a wall adjoining the house.

In May when we visited the fruit was just beginning to appear.

There was a magnificent magnolia tree by an entrance to the house.

The trees here and the rambling roses created a shady sitting area .

On the top of the wall as you look up you can see 

some small statues.  These little helmeted figures are carrying arms and 

one has a trumpet and another has a bow and arrows.

 The wisteria that was climbing up the walls of the house was looking beautiful as were 

 the ones growing on walls and along a supporting pergola in the gardens.

The fig trees that had been espaliered (trained to grow flat against

  outer and inner garden walls) must be very old.

The shady pergolas were enjoyable to walk through.

We saw a thrush in the Pear Walk . It  was not shy and probably had

 a nest somewhere in the grounds of the estate near the kitchen garden. 

We also saw red kites circling ahead and birds of the crow family.

The latter have made their home in the old tower.

There was a weeping cherry....

 and many shrubs and climbers growing around the rocks,

  up into the old walls where there's an entrance into the Tower Garden.

It was the Cinnamon Bark Tree that interested me.

The mature tree trunk's inner bark where the outer bark had fallen off 

 was a wonderful colour and had interesting markings. 

A young Cinnamon Bark Tree which looked very healthy.

When we were in the area of Rotherfield Greys last month we went out to lunch with an old friend of the family.  

This was my choice for lunch - fish (lemon sole) with spinach, squash, puy lentils and lamb's lettuce followed by Summer fruit meringue.

There's obviously a lot going on in the village and Greys Court often hosts village events.

Next to The Malsters Arms pub is the church of St Nicholas. Ever since the de Greys first lived at Greys Court in 1086 there has been a link with the family and other families who have lived at the Court as they worshipped in the church. 

Reading Abbey Ruins - a return visit

A few years ago I wrote about my visits to Reading Abbey Ruins and the Forbury Gardens in my home town and you can read about this here and here. At that time I was disappointed that a place I would often spend time in had been closed for safety reasons when stones began to fall from the unstable walls. In the days before the gates to the ruins were locked Shakespeare plays would be performed and open air church services took place on the large area of lawn within the walls. Then a £3 million plus conservation project was announced and in the last year or two the walls were stabilised and rebuilt in places. The work has included further work on the abbey inner gatehouse. In June of this year the site was reopened to the public after nearly ten years of closure.  Of course, I had to go and see for myself . The conservation work had been a success. The tablet plaques in the Chapter House are just as I remember. A new arch looks good and in time will blend in. There are new information boards, displays of samples of stone carving and visitors can take a guided tour.  The ruins will be a wonderful venue for events and our daughter is looking forward to going to some of these in the future including the next Shakespearean play that's put on.

We started our walk in the Forbury Gardens. The land here was also

part of Reading Abbey. It was good to see that the water bowl

 and water in the shell fountain had been cleaned up since I visited last. 

The entrance that leads into the ruins. The walkway

 to St. James' Church and former school in the photo forms a tunnel

which I enjoyed running through on walks with my Dad along by

the River Kennet to the Forbury Gardens. The shell fountain was

a stopping point as there were large goldfish

 swimming in the water in those days.

looking into the Chapter House

inside the Chapter House

This plaque shows the music notation of

the song Sumer is i cumen in (Summer is a coming in)

It was sung as a round and the earliest manuscript

came from Reading Abbey.

This plaque is to the memory of

 the First Abbot of Reading Abbey 

A plaque to the memory of Blessed Hugh Cook Faringdon,

the last Abbot of Reading Abbey who refused to surrender

the Abbey to Henry VIII and who died on the gallows.

The wood seat has a lion carved on the top. The seat and the steps up to it

were given by The Lions Club International, Reading.

a path leads down to the Chestnut Walk

by the  River Kennet

a display of  carved stone architectural  pieces 

the River Kennet

The Chestnut Walk

On the left are the brick walls of the former Reading Prison

There are plans to open this to the public possibly as a new arts venue.

We went back into the Forbury Gardens.

The Maiwand Memorial with Lion Statue

the restored Abbey Gateway