Now that we are finally getting settled, it is time to start up our Saturday Bucket Lists! This week we decided to meet up with some friends and explore The Vyne estate. The pictures looked amazing and I love walking through massive, old houses – so it was perfect! Well, except for the fact that the roof was under construction…for the last 5 years. It changed the trip a bit, but we are excited to go back this spring and hopefully see it in all its beautiful, new roof glory!
The estate sits on beautiful acreage and the landscaping is incredible. These are pictures as we walked up to the house.
This is the magnificent Tudor Castle we were expecting to visit….
This is what we saw. To say it was disappointing is a little of an understatement. On the bright side we were able to walk around the roof and see all the construction taking place.
Since the house is under construction there were very few rooms open to visit. The whole upstairs was off limits. To make up for it they put pictures up. The house was very dark because the artwork is damaged by sunlight and all the big chandeliers were removed. The whole house was lit only by lamps.
This room was amazing. It had all original artwork that they glued onto the walls. It is said Henry VIII loved the idea so much he went home and had a room decorated in the same manner.
My favorite room was the music/family room. They left the piano open and my kids were drawn to it like moths to a flame! They asked permission and all were allowed to play a few songs. It was so neat to hear them play this old piano and bring life to the room. I wish I could upload the videos! The plate is hand painted and amazing.
This is a painting of Henry VIII. This guy was a real jerk. He visited The Vyne four times, once with Anne Boleyn – his second wife. It’s actually at the Vyne that he met his next wife, Jane Seymore. William Sandys seemed to be just a pawn in Henry VIII life – either had no backbone, or was very good at brown nosing. Just six months after Henry and Anne visited it was William Sandys that was the one who escorted Anne to be executed on false claims of infidelity. Just seemed to me like Sandys was just a real slimy guy.
This is the chapel. On the other end of the stained glass window of Christ’s atonement is a huge painting of Henry – positioned higher than the image of the Savior. It just showed that he felt he was more important than Christ. See? A jerk.
How amazing is this door?!?!
Why did we get rid of these bells?!?! I love this idea! I’ve never seen such a long hallway lined with bell after bell after bell. It is crazy this house was so massive!
After walking through the house we were hungry, so we ate at the pub on site. It was where the old stable was. The food was super pricey, not great, and not worth it.
After lunch the kids had tons of energy so we decided to walk around the estate to burn off energy. Why can’t my kids take a normal picture?!
Someone has carved these tree stumps into amazing works of art! I only got a picture of these two unfortunately.
Oh my goodness I love this picture of Andrew!
This was a weird building. At first it was used as a summer kitchen, then as a little meeting spot for tea and cakes, and finally a pigeon home. They kept pigeons so they would have eggs and fresh meat all through the winter.
We waited in line for an hour to view the roof top restoration. It was so neat! Pretty much, they have completely surrounded the house, built scuffling all around it, then slowly (recording everything) started taking off the roof. They found lots of treasures under there…best of which was a roof top full of bats. Once they found the bats they had to get a special license to go forward with the restoration. As a compromise, they built pathways for the bats so they still have a home in the roof. The pictures can’t do it justice!
A bee hive they found in the roof when they removed it.
All in all it was a great day with great friends, memories, and exploring. The best part for Z was on the walk to the car he found this amazing walking stick. It’s all ready for our next adventure!
And, in case you were wondering, weeping willows are my favorite tree.
