Places to visit in South East England. South East England is the most densely populated, and most prosperous, region in Britain outside London. It stretches from Kent in the east through East and West Sussex to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight along the coast and also includes Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. There are two national parks, the South Downs and the New Forest, pretty villages and historic cities like Canterbury and Oxford. Castles, stately homes and gardens are almost everywhere – Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace and Wisley, for example – and theme parks like Legoland. Maritime Heritage can be found at the revived naval docks of Portsmouth and Chatham. The weather is often good too. The drawback to the south east is that it is busy – and can be expensive.
It is said that Magna Carta, an agreement which is more than 800 years old, helped lay the foundation for our modern freedoms and liberal democracy. The tour ‘bus pulls up with a hiss of brakes next to a nondescript, but pleasant, meadow alongside the Thames in Surrey. “This is where the barons forced wicked […]
Runnymede and Magna Carta Read More »
I was looking for Geoffrey Chaucer’s Granddaughter – as you do. In the process, I discovered a unique church and the last resting place of Jerome K Jerome. Let’s start with Chaucer’s granddaughter, Alice de la Pole. Alice was quite a lady, a duchess, with extensive lands in the Thames Valley, East Anglia and overseas.
Visiting Alice de la Pole and St Mary’s, Ewelme Read More »
Tucked neatly away in the Weald of Kent is a little dream medieval moated manor house called Ightham Mote. It is closer to the hamlet of Ivy Hatch than to the village of Ightham. Before we go any further, let’s make it clear that Ightham is pronounced ‘item’. Of course it is. It is derived
Ightham Mote, medieval, Tudor and American Read More »
Peeking past the porter’s lodge is looking through a window into another world; a world of privilege, beauty, tradition, history and at least a thousand stories. Here is a bit about Balliol College, one of more than thirty academic communities that make up the University of Oxford. Across the quad from the porter’s lodge, cascades
You’ll find a curious thing at the end of a little path beside the school in the Kent village of Chiddingstone. It’s a great lump of sandstone, formed about 135 million years ago when this part of the world was a swampy mess. And this large rock is called the Chiding Stone, because (so they
Chiddingstone’s Chiding Stone Read More »
Bodiam Castle was ostensibly built to help defend England from the French. Now it just sits there, looking beautiful, a teeny bit brooding, and very medieval. From a distance, you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s still a functioning fortress, that a verray parfit gentil knyght is going to come galloping across the drawbridge
Beautiful Bodiam Castle Read More »
Nudging along the lush borders of Hampshire and West Sussex, not far from the charming town of Petersfield, is Uppark. Pronounced ‘Up Park’ (a corresponding ‘Down Park’ lies a few miles to the north), Uppark’s south-facing Regency rear looks remarkably like a doll’s house; which is appropriate, because there is a real 18th century doll’s
The wealthy banker Lionel de Rothschild bought the Exbury Estate, in Hampshire, in 1919. In 1922, work began on creating what is now a 200 acre garden, internationally famous for its rhododendrons, azaleas, rare trees and shrubs. Exbury Gardens are open to the public, nestle on the eastern edge of the Beaulieu River in the
Blooms and a mystery at Exbury Gardens Read More »
There are so many stories behind every memorial. Of course, there are exceptions, but outside graveyards most memorials tend toward the grand. However, if you happen to be wandering about the southern slopes of Portsdown Hill, just north of Fareham in Hampshire, you might stumble across a modest tribute to a Battle of Britain pilot,
Memorial to James Tillet Read More »
For centuries, Bosham was a fishing village, famous for its oysters. You’ll find it on a small peninsula in Chichester Harbour in West Sussex; a bit of a yachting place, also beloved by artists, walkers, cyclists and casual visitors. Yes, Bosham (say ‘Bozzum’) can be a busy spot, particularly on a fine day. There are
Bosham, Cnut, the king’s daughter and Harold Read More »
Before anyone gets carried away with gratuitous salacity, the Seven Sisters are chalk cliffs on the south east coast of England. Do not confuse them with another Seven Sisters, an area of London in N15, near Tottenham. Exciting and attractive though the latter undoubtedly is, today – today we’re striding out across the cliffs, perforce
On top of Seven Sisters Read More »
Just past Stoney Cross, in a woodland clearing down a leafy lane off the busy east-bound A31 in Hampshire, is a memorial to one of England’s least popular kings. We are told that William II, known as ‘Rufus’ and who ruled from 1087-1100, was a really nasty piece of work – a cruel, merciless, tyrant
This is Leeds Castle, nowhere near the city of Leeds in Yorkshire, but located some 240 miles to the south, in Kent. It was once described as “the loveliest castle in the world” by historian Lord Conway and understandably, but slightly tediously, Leeds Castle ensures his words have not been forgotten – even if most
The Loveliest Castle in the World? Read More »
My chum Dave was at it again. Like me, Dave is tickled by the past and finds there’s more and more of it each day. “You must visit Swinbrook,” he said over a pint at The Olde Ruptured Duck one Friday. “Fettiplace memorials in the church. Amazing. Would go well on A Bit About Britain.”
Mitfords, Fettiplaces and P514 Read More »
