July 24, 2018 - Bolsover Castle

We got home to Utah Friday night, but we really want to chronicle the rest of our trip so that we have a record of what we did.  We were able to see some neat things with Heather's sister, Heidi.  One of these was Bolsover Castle.  From Wikipedia:

Bolsover Castle is a castle in Bolsover, Derbyshire, England (grid reference SK471707). It was built in the early 17th century by the Cavendish family, on the site of a medieval castle founded in the 12th century by the Peverel family. The site is now in the care of English Heritage and is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

One of the really neat things about Bolsover is that you can take a recorded, self-guided tour through it all, at your own pace, and really explore the whole complex. It has three main sections:  the stables, the ruins of a once great manor house, and the castle.  Each section is quite interesting in its own way.  We included the aerial photo we found on the internet to give a sense of the entire place.  The stables is the portion with the brown roof, the ruins have no roof, and the castle (surprisingly 😉) looks like a castle (although it is a rather small one).


We started out in the stables, which include a large indoor arena for horseback riding demonstrations. William Cavendish was an early equestrian master, who really invented the art of "Manege," the horse training practice that eventually morphed into what is known as "Dressage," today.










We enjoyed exploring the ruins and imagining how it must have looked in its prime. Even though it was in shambles, it made for great photos, as the beautiful architecture was laid bare.


Being built on the crest of a hill (as many castles are), it had a striking view out over a lush valley.














The castle has been maintained much better than the old manor and was more like other grand houses we have toured. It was built mostly for entertaining and to impress, rather than as a defensive structure.


As seen below, Heather is willing to make great sacrifices for great pictures.










We even found a princess locked away in the castle tower!  She didn't seem to mind, though.












For such a small castle, the kitchen complex was quite large; a testament to the numbers of people that would have been fed when lavish parties were held here. There are stories of decadent dinners, huge guest lists, and excessive entertainment, all planned for the lucky guests.










The courtyard garden was beautiful and nice for strolling.










We loved the huge beech tree pictured below!














As seen below, Heidi is also willing to make great sacrifices for great pictures.


After leaving Bolsover we very briefly stopped by Hardwick Hall (It's quite close to Bolsover) again so that Heidi could see the gardens there.








On our way home we stopped at a pub for a very British dinner.








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