We were on our way to our next accommodation when we saw a sign for a National Trust property, Hanbury Hall. As we’d bought National Trust membership in Australia, with reciprocal rights here in the UK, we are certainly taking advantage of opportunities to view these historic homes.

As far as a lot of these historical homes go this one was fairly new having been built in 1701. We were met at the entry by liveried staff and that set the mood for the visit to this opulent country estate.

Day 40: Take a tour with me –

Huge wall and ceiling paintings dominated the entry hall and stairway

Thomas Vernon, who had this home built as his country estate, was a prominent chancery lawyer and entertained his London guests here. It was decorated to impress them with his wealth and power.

The best view of the formal garden was from the first floor

But it looked wonderful from the ground floor perspective too

The vegetable garden and rose garden were adjoining the formal area

I loved the look of this plant in the vegetable garden and wondered why they would be growing a huge thistle there! Turns out it is a cardoon, a relative of the artichoke, and is grown for its stem rather than its flower.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Hanbury Hall. A little research done for this blog has revealed an interesting history that you can follow here.

I was intrigued to see that Edward, the original owner of the property before being developed by Thomas Vernon, married a lady called Eleanor Chettle, Chettle was my maternal grandmother’s maiden name. I wonder if there’s a connection?

If you are coming to the UK I highly recommend purchasing an Australian National Trust membership before you leave home. I think it cost $49 (approximately £25) Each property here costs a minimum of around £8 if you are not a member and could be as high as £15 each so it doesn’t take long to recover the cost of your membership with our reciprocal rights.

Hanbury Hall is one of the homes we may never have seen without our National Trust membership- and that would have been a shame!

Just goes to prove there’s more to Worcestershire than sauce 🤣🤣