The south front of Croome Court. ©NTPL/Andrew Butler
There is a lot going on at Croome Court, in Worcestershire, at the moment, and some of this will be featured on BBC1′s Countryfile on Sunday 27 February.
Amy Forster, Croome Visitor Services Manager (left) with Countryfile's Julia Bradbury (right). ©National Trust/ Amy Forster
The programme will feature the replanting of 5,000 trees by staff and volunteers in the Old Wood to the east of Croome.
View from Croome towards the Malvern Hills, showing some of the arable fields that replaced parts of the park in the twentieth century. ©NTPL/David Noton
This is to replace woodland that was lost in the twentieth century because of the construction of an RAF airfield in the 1940s and the expansion of arable farming in the area. It will also improve the views from the house.
Croome Property Manager Michael Smith. ©NTPL/Layton Thompson
Countryfile also interviewed Property Manager Michael Smith about the restoration of the Rotunda at Croome.
The Rotunda. ©NTPL/Andrew Butler
This garden pavilion, designed by Capability Brown, has needed extensive work to its exterior and interior surfaces. It is hoped that the Rotunda can be opened to the public later this year.
Interior of the Rotunda before the restoration work began. ©NTPL/Layton Thompson
Apart from just being good news, these projects also show how estates like Croome are an integrated whole, where nature, art and history all have to work together.
February 25, 2011 at 18:37 |
croome has everything to stir the heart of a romantic soul!one even gets used to the m5.the outer park ornaments are amongst the best of their kind,having a toughness to contrast with the delicate pleasure garden structures.
February 25, 2011 at 19:23 |
It is a place I haven’t managed to visit yet, I really must make the effort.
February 25, 2011 at 21:06 |
Love that they are restoring Brown’s Rotunda! Croome is such a magical place of contrasts & intrusion of one age upon another.
February 25, 2011 at 21:31 |
I have been dying to get to Croome — all the more so now that I know the rotunda is being restored!
February 26, 2011 at 09:44 |
And what’s happening at Croome now is just the latest phase in a long-term restoration project, so I hope to be able to report more soon.
July 3, 2011 at 18:58 |
I would have have liked to have seen the protection of the RAF Defford site and airfield as a memorial to the men and women who created the blind landing systems we all take so granted today.
These things are just as important in our heritage as Croome Park which was the Officers Mess
July 5, 2011 at 08:51 |
Mike, I think you are right that the airfield is part of Croome’s story – after all, history doesn’t stop at 1900 or 1940 – or even 2011. The colleagues involved with Croome are hoping and planning to show aspects the estate’s World War II era as a part of Croome’s overall presentation.