Stourhead Garden

This is one of my favorite places in the world. I spent half a day at Stourhead, it's really close to Stonehenge, about an hour and half west of London. This garden is a perfect example of English gardening philosphy in the 18th century. While the French were manicuring hedges and flower beds into perfect geometrical shapes, the English were cultivating a more wild, natural looking garden ideal. Stourhead feels hidden and mystical. The valley surrounding the man-made lake is studded with little classical temples, a mermaid grotto, and of course the famous gothic bridge. It truly is a living work of art.


England has been called cloud cuckoo-land. Nowhere is this more enjoyable than Stourhead. We huddled on a hidden bench eating our picnic lunch in a drizzle. The lake was an hypnotic piece of fluid obsidian, complete with chips and waves. Then when the clouds passed, the hundreds of shades of green glittered with raindrops all around us.

We climbed up on the temple of Apollo and posed as Greek statues in its nooks.



This pivotal scene from the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice was shot in Apollo's Temple overlooking the lake at Stourhead. http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/screenplay/vi2994798873/