Visiting Eastnor Castle - A Very Short Post

This will be a very short post, because I forget to add these pics in the Hereford day! On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Eastnor Castle (which I had no idea existed--good job to Taylor to finding it). It was built between 1811 and 1820, and it looks like something out of a fairy tale. It took 250 men working day and night over the first six years to get the castle built, and the Hervey-Bathhurst family still lives there 200 years later.
 
Since we got there late in the day, we just missed being able to visit the interior, but at least we were free to walk around the extensive grounds. The castle overlooks a large lake, which you can in theory walk all the way around on a lovely hike--except that we had about thirty minutes of sun before the clouds rolled in. The difference in weather was so extreme the pictures look like we were there on two different days!


    
 
I suffered to get the gloomy picture above over the lake--it started pouring when I was about halfway down the path, which was quite muddy. I almost didn't stay on my feet and ended up jogging the whole way back to Taylor and Elowen, who took shelter under a copse of trees so thick it shielded them completely from the deluge. 
 
    
 
    
 

    
 
I was SUPER excited to see a pheasant, by the way--they're so beautiful and make such funny little grumbling noises. They're also surprisingly quick, so it was hard to get a picture! (I did see my first pheasant at the Four Seasons, but it was from the taxi and the driver laughed at me for being so excited.) 
 
   

If this looks familiar, it's because they filmed the episodes of Succession here where Shiv marries Tom. The crew recruited locals to serve as extras in the huge wedding scenes, and one of the offices served as Kendall's hotel room. 350 cast and crew were on location there for nearly 8 weeks! If you want to read more, you can here.
 

  

This is definitely a "must" for me on a second visit so I can see the interior and fully explore the grounds!




  
 

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