St. Andrew's Church - Minterne Magna

Just a quick post following on from the previous posting on Minterne House and Gardens.

Nothing particularly outstanding about this little country church except for it's history and memorial plates dedicated to well known people throughout history 

Apart from the Digby family the Churchill family also have connections with Minterne House. 

Set into the floor at the front of the pulpit are memorial stones to John Churchill who died in 1659 the father of the first Winston Churchill and above the memorial to Ellen Churchill (died 1673), the sister of the Duke of Marlborough.

On the left side of the nave is the magnificent 18th century monument to General Charles Churchill, a soldier who was Major General to King William of Orange and Governor of The Tower of London under Queen Anne. Born in 1658 and dying in 1714 at the age of 56, the memorial was erected by his widow Mary. His more famous brother was the great Duke of Marlbrough who built Blenheim Palace, a gift from the nation.  

Minterne House & Gardens, Dorset

Hard to think it is a year since we walked around this garden

The house has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families for 350 years.

The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes and waterfalls and streams 

Over 1.5 miles of walks with Palm trees and towering Rhododendrons, framed by tall Cedar and Beech, provide a new vista at each turn.  

Come with me as we begin our walk and I will show you some of the gardens

I love the (handkerchief trees) Davidia Involucrata

Out now into the meadows

and back through the woods towards the house

I'll show you Minterne church in the next post with it's interesting history 

Driving Through Sydling St. Nicholas

So many photographs from last Summer still to post it's hard to catch up!

For this post we are driving through Sydling St. Nicholas in Dorset. I always love it when there is time to park the car and photograph the beauty around.

This village is mainly just one street but a treat to walk down

an old fire hydrant

Such a variety of different homes as we pass through from one place to another