It is August already and there are a number of places I have visited this summer that have not yet appeared on this site. Luckily, with some of the summer still ahead there is plenty more chance to visit some more sites.

Sites from this summer coming soon on Exploring Heritage include:

• Belton House, NT, Nr Grantham, Lincolnshire.
• The Treasurer’s House, NT, York, Yorkshire.
• Hardwick Hall, NT, Derbyshire.
• Cannons Ashby, NT, Northamptonshire.

During the autumn, I might add a few retrospective sites which I have visited in the past few years which I have enjoyed. If you would like to keep abreast of updates to the site, you can subscribe to our RSS feed.

This is a rather unique National Trust property. The Garden is both small and beautiful. The Yorkshire Regional NT Office, the house is not open to visitors, but the National Trust has opened the garden for all to enjoy. Arts and Crafts terraces yield to a wilderness style lower garden with a charming pond. The monthly updates greatly enhance the guide to the garden and provide a refreshing experience to this little-explored oasis.

Visit Goddards Garden on the National Trust website

Oxburgh Hall is an interesting moated house in brick with impressive Tudor gatehouse. The moat is not defensive, but merely ornamental, yielding to a largely Victorian interior. Tooled leather wall treatments are both lavish and decadent, their sumptuousness graces even some of the corridors. The one priest hole which visitors can see, can also be climbed in. This is quite an interesing and unparalleled experience, the interior is not that small after all, bit a bit of a fiddle to get into. This is well worth the visit, not to mention the many other features of the property.

Visit Oxburgh Hall on the National Trust website

Interestingly, one might not go to Snowshill Manor to see the manor itself! The primary attraction of Snowshill Manor is its collection of well, just about everything. The collections range from shoes and bicycles to Samurai and European armor. The Manor is the story of an Architect, who from inherited wealth did not need to work. Charles Paget Wade turned Snowshill into a museum for his collections, intricately sculpting the spaces, creating a musuem that is not merely interesting for its collections, but how it has bee designed to keep them.

The Manor also features a fine Arts and Crafts garden which has featured on the front cover of the National Trust Handbook. It is quite enjoyable to walk around and features the cottage in which Charles Paget Wade made his home, living somewhat arcaicly in the 20th Century witout electricity. The cottage is often overlooked, but is well work a close look as it is fascinating and unmistakibly bears the mark of an Architect who has designed for their own particular tastes.

Visit Snowshill Manor and Garden on the National Trust website

The site is rather hard to find when you first arrive, but then upon closer inspection you discover the earthworks of an 11th Century motte and bailey castle. The interpretation boards offer interest and are essential in understanding what exactly you are looking at.

Visit Deddington Castle on the English Heritage Website

The roofless remains of a grand Georgian house stand at the edge of the village of the same name. The demise of the Hall came about relatively recently, loosing its roof in 1919. One can speculate in the substantial remains what it might have been like, sadly lost.

Visit Sutton Scarsdale Hall on the English Heritage Website

Thornton Abbey is a delightful ruin in the North of Lincolnshire. The abbey, which features some remains, which although less substantial than others, give an idea of their former grandeur, particularly in the Chapter House remains. Interestingly, it is the gatehouse which is the main attraction, indeed the largest monastic gatehouse in England. The gatehouse houses the shop as well as exhibitions and is extensively open to the public. It is thought that the gatehouse was enlarged in 1831 as a response to the Peasants’ Revolt of that year. Another interesting point of the the gatehouse is the primary building material of brick, being an early example of brick construction in England.

Visit Thornton Abbey on the English Heritage Website.

Buscot Park is a late 18th Century house with an atmosphere of warmth that is created by the family’s mark. The house exhibits a stunning collection of art and antiques which is continually growing. Notable Old Paster and Pre Raphaelite collections are to be found, including “The Legend of the Briar Rose” set of paintings by Burne-Jones, which is definitely worth seeing. New acquisitions ensure that there is always something new to see when you return.

The pleasure gardens and water features, which are designed by Harold Peto are also notable. The estate also features extensive parkland and an orchard which is open for pick-your-own at certain times of the year.

Visit Buscot Park on the National Trust Website.

[View with PicLens]

The new icon feature helps explain what features and facilities are to be found at each site. The icons can be found on the map and on posts.

Functionality for images has also been added, with images planned in the near future.

The Website is currently in the finishing stages, however most of it is operational including the map search! The next few stages will see some cosmetic finishing and further updates.

There are currently six entries which are very much skeletal and will see further fleshing out in the near future.