Shropshire Holiday Days 4-5

Day Four:



The previous post left us up in the Shropshire hills, so I feel we need to come down now, almost to underground as we wander round Wroxeter Roman City.
The bit we are walking round is actually only a tiny part of the city, the rest of which is still underground. Welcome to Wroxeter Bath House and Market! The tiles in the above photo are part of the underfloor heating for one of the warm sections of the bath house.

This house was built by researchers who were testing Roman methods of house building. It is only a fraction of the size that real Roman houses would be built at, but it is still quite impressive.

They even tried out methods of decorating, plastering and painting the walls and making mosaics on the floors.
Underneath this model house is the remains of the roman market- the front of it is built facing onto the outdoor bit and the building itself is built on top of the indoor section. Apparently, villa owners used to rent out their front rooms to shop keepers to sell their wares in.

After our Roman visit, we went to Wenlock Edge for a spot of lunch and fossil hunting. (Not that we found much)

Day Five:
On day five we woke to horrible weather, it was pouring down! We nearly didn't go out, but ventured eventually a few miles from the doorstep to Stokesay Castle.

I really liked the bright yellow house through which you entered the castle- it looked so out of place!

We were wandering around this castle for quite a while, watching the baby swallows sheltering from the rain inside the top rooms. Eventually we left to go for a drive, and mistakenly drove over Clee Hill- where the visibility was nil and the rain was lashing down!

Eurgh, nasty!! Pub lunch I think.
After a smashing lunch (I had cream of vegetable soup followed by a delicious lamb curry), it wasn't quite as horrible so we carried on to Berrington Hall.

Inside this house was really pretty, and we got to see both above and below stairs. There was quite a gory story about one of the butlers who had gone for a spot of hunting during the day but been slightly careless with his gun and shot himself in the foot which later had to be amputated!! Unfortunately we never got to know the last part of the story, whether he was able to carry on working at the hall as butler- not even the National Trust knows- 'tis a mystery to be sure.

Although the decoration inside the manor was lovely (like Greek temples with marbled columns and the like) I was really taken by the walled garden, which was beautiful with an orchard, veggie patch, little doorways surrounded by vibrant flowers and blooming flowerbeds!

Good afternoon to you Mr and Mrs Scarecrow!!