Baddesley Clinton

So we had Mother's Day a bit early, and headed south to the Solihull area.  They think there has been a dwelling here since Anglo Saxon times, when a man called Badde owned a field here (lea) = Baddesley.  The first stone building dates from Norman times, but it was much changed since.  The Ferrers family (who owned it until the National Trust took it on in 1980, when there were no descendants to inherit and the last remaining were very very old) were an old Catholic family.  There is still a rather lovely chapel.  And there are at least 3 (possibly 4) priest holes.  We got a good look in one (through a shaft and mirrors).  A section of the sewers which ran beneath the house next to the moat was bricked off and they dropped into it by a rope.  They were never found there, although the man responsible for creating it (Nicholas Owen, responsible for many priest holes in England) was caught - twice, they didn't realise who he was the first time and let him go - tortured, hanged, drawn and quartered.  He presumably didn't talk as the holes at Baddesley were never found.

Sadly not a lot of the house was open - they've been doing restoration work and hadn't finished, though they hope to be by Easter.  I didn't see a warning of that on their website, and I do hope they weren't charging non members full price, because there was very little we could see inside.  (Looking back now, it does say that parts are closed until May, but nothing to imply that virtually all of it is closed at the moment, and nothing to suggest discounted entry as a result, which I don't think is fair.)

It was a really beautiful day with a proper feeling of spring, but a nippy wind.  I got out my macro lens and tried to get some good shots of the camellias, but it was so breezy that even with a shutter speed of around 1/2000 of a second they aren't clear - the flower moved out of focus before I could finish pressing the shutter release.

So here are a few of my favourites.

Ah Mol, the concentration!  We must get them downloaded next visit ready for me to print

They forgot to tell this tree it's spring now

The priest hole fan pretty much directly behind the daffs, below that dark course you can see

Into the inner courtyard from the gatehouse

Some of the contents - notably the eagle lectern - have been moved here from parts that are closed

My favourite shot of the day!

The inner courtyard, with the archway under the gatehouse

The camellias from the other side of the moat (within the courtyard) - I had to wait ages for a woman to finally give up taking close ups with her pocket camera - bet she was disappointed with the blur given the shutter speed on them!