Having packed yesterday we had a relaxed breakfast then tried to remember the process of locking the house up for just over a week! After loading up the car we set off for Dyrham Park our first stop on the way to Taunton. Situated in a 270 acre deer park it is a 17th century house and formal garden. The site has been occupied since at least the bronze age and evidence that in 577 a significant battle was waged at Dyrham, however in 972 Dyrham was an estate of Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire and is recorded in the Domesday book, however the first documentary evidence for a manor house at Dyrham is 1311 where a survey carried out after the death of Sir Willam Russel describes the house, including a hall, high great chamber and wine cellars! The house that stands today was built by Willam Blathwayt who during marriage negotiations remarked on the ’necessity of building a new house’ work started in 1691, unfortunately Mary died the same year and never saw her ancestral estate! The west front of the house was the first to be built with the east front being completed in 1670. Willam Blathwayt III inherited Dyrham married three times and experienced financial problems and in 1765 had to auction paintings to raise funds, it seems his younger brother brought them and subsequently returned them to the house. The house had mixed fortunes until George Blathwayt (the son of Willam Blathwayt IV’s younger half brother) inherited the house in 1844 and he took out a 50,000 pound loan to buy back furniture and pictures as well as repair and modernise the house. The family remained in the house until 1956 when the Ministry of Works purchased the house through the National Land Fund, it was transferred to the National Trust and after repairs was opened to visitors in 1961. The house didn’t open until 12:00 but there is a walk around the grounds which mean you arrive at the house about half way round, so we did this walk arriving at the house almost exactly as it opened. The view from the top of the hill was stunning, you could see for miles and then we walked down through the terraces to the Church, which we went in, then then formal gardens which were lovely, then we decided to have lunch before going round the house to avoid the crowds. We had a really nice sausage roll and a drink then went round the house. It is lovely and is the first National Trust house we have been in for a while where the upstairs is open. There is an amazing painting at the end of the corridor which is 3D and looks as if the house continues for a long way. After walking round the house we stopped for an ice cream then walked up the very steep hill to get a fantastic view of the house and gardens before heading back to the car and our next stop. We had thought about staying in Bridgewater but in the end decided that Taunton was probably more central to what we wanted to do, so on the way to Taunton we stopped at Bridgewater, which feels like it is being re-built and I am sure it will be nice when it is finished but at the moment is rather like a building site. I had found a heritage walk around Bridgewater, but unfortunately it was obviously written before the building work started, and to be honest the photos on the website were probably the best bits of the town. Apparently Bridgewater is the home of the carnival, which is not something I had ever heard before and apart from one statue in the middle of the town, not something that is particularly obvious! We did our best to follow the walk, despite the building work, and did find the docks which have been ‘beautified’ but this doesn’t seem to have worked, there are a number of moorings in the canal basin but none of them were occupied. From here we walked into the town, it has a really nice arcade, and also what looks like a very nice indoor market but it was closing as we arrived so we didn’t manage to go in! After walking round the town we went back to the car and set off for Taunton. We are staying slightly out of town, but that shouldn’t be a problem as most of the things we want to do are a drive away. On the way to the hotel we called into the supermarket to pick up lunch for tomorrow as we are off to Minehead! We had dinner in the restaurant next to the Premier Inn which was really nice, then it was back to the room to update the website before having a coffee and going to bed to relax ready for tomorrow
