Autumn at Cotehele

As Autumn is approaching, I am remembering our lovely Golden Celebration to England two years ago.  Grayden and I spent four weeks in Great Britain touring Scotland, the Lake District, Devon and Cornwall.  If you wish to follow along on our journey I have been recording it on this blog for a while now.  All of the visit is under the Great Britain tab above.   It seems to take a while to write about it all, but I am determined to do so.  I am writing in the order of the places we visited.  So next up we are going to Cornwall to visit Cotehele located near Saltash. 

As I recorded in my journal, the trip to Cotehele was a little hairy having taken a single track road and met a car head on.  He graciously backed out and let us pass. Thank goodness we are all safe and sound to enjoy a most special place owned by the NationaI Trust. 

Cotehele is the ancestral home of the Edgcumbe family and dates back to 1353. This lovely slate and granite home is high above the River Tamar and remained in the family for over 600 years.  In 1947 Kenelm, the 6 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe gave the home to the National Trust.  

Come inside with us and we'll see more interesting sights that may surprise you.

Stepping inside the Great Hall we see all sorts of armor and collections decorating the walls.  It's very much like the grand entrance inside a castle and reminded me of the wealth that surrounds it.

The bones that we see are from a fin whale.  They are enormous!  The National Trust folks nicknamed them "Finella."  The Edgcumbes were collectors of all sorts of things.  It is not known where the bones were collected from.

The ceiling of the Great Hall is quite impressive with exposed ancient timber work.

Tapestries adorn many of the rooms.  We are told little has changed in the home since Tudor times.  

Cotehele has a lovely chapel that one can still attend services.  

Take note of the clock gears in the back left.

The turret clock was installed between 1493 and 1591.  The gentleman there said the only other one is in Salisbury Cathedral (more on that later) to the best of his knowledge.  This one being the oldest in the UK. 

After leaving the Chapel we explored the other rooms that are open.

The bedrooms with ornate embroidered bed coverings and tapestry lined walls made the home have more warmth during the cold winters. 

This lovely embroidered bedspread really caught my eye!

This large home has many bedrooms and many beds.

Most of the tapestries make the home have a dark feel.  They are from the 17th century and most feature Roman myths.  

There are many handsome pieces of period furnishings in the home.

As always in the National Trust properties there are fresh flowers from the garden placed all about.  There is a 12 acre garden that surrounds the home as well as acres and acres of woods to explore down to the River Tamar.  As you can see the walls are very thick here at Cotehele!

Looking through the peephole we can view the Great Hall downstairs. 

Let's visit the kitchen.  I always like seeing where meals were prepared.

The large fireplace for cooking must have been quite dangerous back when women wore their long skirts.  

As well as quite warm with all the heat this oven must have produced.

The gardens are lovely on this beautiful Autumn day.

Everything looks so lush and green.  England certainly enjoys a lovely Fall thanks to rain and sunshine.

After touring the gardens you can stop in the National Trust shop and look at all the goodies.  It all helps them keep their wonderful properties open for all of us to enjoy.

As we were leaving Cotehele, I am again struck by the beauty of the "green and pleasant land" that is England.