Visit to Chenies Manor.

Chenies manor is near Amersham, Buckinghamshire. It is a 14th & 15th century manor house, rich in history. Henry V111 and Elizabeth 1st have visited and affairs of State were carried out from there.

The weather was lovely, hot and sunny, the temperature reaching 32degrees c. , in contrast to the other visits so far this year. The only problem was the coach, the air conditioning had broken down, and it was just like a mobile sauna. The windows couldn't be opened, which made things even hotter.



A very imposing Chenies Manor.

The manor is surrounded by five acres of gardens, sub divided into different types of garden. There is a lot of topiary, lawns and a display of many varieties of Dahlias. Large mixed borders abound. There is a pump house sited over a well, the water is used on the garden. It was visited by a very young John Noakes for "Blue Peter", also the Time Team, and all the interesting things they found there are displayed inside.

The BBC have used the house and gardens for several of their series, Morse being one of them. They left this gorgeous gazebo after filming there:

Outside on the lawn is a huge old oak tree, thought to be over 1000 years old. It is known as "Elizabeth's oak", because Queen Elizabeth 1st  is said to have sat under its' shade to read. It is completely hollow inside, how it still stands is a mystery!



Elizabeth's Oak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a guided tour of the house, which was very interesting. There is supposed to be a headless ghost  which stomps around, but we never saw him. The house is still lived in by the owners, the Macleod Matthews, and we were able to have a peek into Elizabeth's (the house's owner), bedroom. Further along  there was a room devoted to her collection of dolls.

Here are some of the garden photos:



A bird topiary.

Beautiful flowers.

 

 

Nearly time to go home!  Brenda & Jill have a rest.

Most of us had refreshments in the tea room at some point, it was lovely to be able to sit in the sunshine for a change. The time passed so quickly, it was soon time to go back to the coach. Before we did so,  the raffle was called and then we boarded, ready to do battle with the traffic on the M25.