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When we last left Painshill Park, we were standing in the Gothick Temple, taking in the view across the lake.

In the middle of the lake is a funny little grotto. It's rather remarkable, although a very difficult structure to photograph. It sits on a tiny island in the middle of the lake - or rather in the island, as part of it acts as a sort of ( Read more... )

As I mentioned in my previous post on the subject, Painshill Park is quite a large estate, and there is a lot to see in it - our visit was about five hours long. Our first stop was the walled garden, which is full of pretty colours from the wonderful flowers. Charles Hamilton was a keen collector of plants and imported exotic species, turning ( Read more... )

One of my favourite books is Headley & Meulenkamp's Directory of UK Follies, Grottoes and Garden Buildings1. It's a delightful book that has provided me with many hours of fun, reading about funny and obscure buildings in all sorts of unlikely corners of the country, built by all sorts of wonderfully eccentric people. I could write pages and pages ( Read more... )