Southwest England: A country filled with legend

The Geor­gian resi­dence where Charles Darwin lived with his wife and chil­dren from 1842 until his death is located in the small munic­ipality of Downe. It is used as a museum that provides informa­tion about the life of the Darwin family and the origin of his theory of evolu­tion. In addi­tion, many orig­inal furnish­ings that were taken out of the house after the death of Darwin and his wife were procured again. The tour leads through the house, the green­house and the garden.

When the German-Jewish busi­nessman Ludwig Ernst Wilhelm Leonard Messel emigrated to England at the end of the 19th century, he bought the 120-hectare Nymans estate because of its wonderful view of the High Weald of Sussex. From then on, the transforma­tion of the estate became his life's work. After his death, his family cont­inued the work. A wild garden was created. In the adjoining forest plants from the temperate lati­tudes of the whole world were planted. A stone mansion replaced the incon­spic­uous “Regentschaftshaus”. Today the garden is one of the most beau­tiful in England and open to the public.

Included in:
National Trust Touring Pass

South of London, where the metropol­itan area gives way to the Sussex hill country, stands a former royal hunting park made famous by the author of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne. The 6,500 acre forest, the remainder of what was once a massive wood­land steeped in legend, is a designated “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. Activ­i­ties include horseback riding and hiking. A museum at the edge of the forest is dedicated to the famous bear.

The old harbor docks of Portsmouth are now a theme park and the city's major tourist center. Magnif­i­cent 17th century sailing ships stand in the harbor and there are several naval museums, including a gunpowder museum. You will also find numerous restau­rants and shops in the vicinity. A one-day ticket costs approx. GBP 30 and includes a tour of the harbor.

Today, this town with a popu­la­tion of 40,000, is merely an admin­is­tra­tive center for the county of Hampshire, but in the 10th and early 11th centuries, Winch­ester was the capital of England. The size of the Winch­ester's cathedral attests to the town's former importance. It is the second-longest cathedral in Europe. Its construc­tion began in 1079 and incor­po­rated a unique mixture of archi­tec­ture from the 11th and 16th centuries. There is a round table in Winch­ester Castle dating from the 12th century and which suppos­edly belonged to King Arthur. However, this is impos­sible since the table would have to be at least 600 years older. Yet such repul­sive argu­ments have not harmed its fame. Tourists come in droves to see it.

The city of Bournemouth offers around 1,700 acres of park­land. The most beau­tiful sections are the Lower, Central and Upper Gardens, which are all connected by the Tree Trail. It starts at the sea and takes you through each of the three parks founded by Queen Victoria, which today are offi­cial histor­ical sites.

This upland moor in the north­eastern part of Cornwall covers over 200 square kilome­ters. Granite lies at the bottom of the moor, which is why water has diffi­culty draining. Imposing rock forma­tions called the “Gates” rise over this deso­late, tree­less landscape. Prehistoric burial mounds and stone circles indicate that the moor­land must have been heavily popu­lated during the Bronze Age. Bodmin Moor has been declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its highest point is Brown Willy (420 m), which is also the highest point in Cornwall.

The most famous gardens of Cornwall consists of a ravine garden and an English landscape park with a commer­cial and an orna­mental garden. Partic­u­larly attrac­tive are the jungle in the ravine where bamboo, gunnera, agave and tree ferns grow as well as “The Lost Valley” of oak, beech and chestnut. The garden is also home to rare wildlife. The overgrown rock figures make refer­ence to the mythology of Cornwall.

The botan­ical garden north of St. Austell is one of the most important of its kind and  thou­sands of visitors come to view the garden.  Here 100,000 plants from 5,000 different species grow on 50 acres of land in a defunct china clay pit. Partic­ular emphasis is placed on endan­gered species to preserve the genetic diver­sity of wild plants and crops. The hexag­onal green­houses are currently the largest in the world and home to trop­ical and Mediterranean plants.

Henry VIII had the fortress built in 1540 as a stronghold against the French and Spaniards. After he had murdered his wives and then summarily changed the reli­gion because of subsequent papal criticism, he had enough reason to fear enemies. One hundred years later, the castle was really embat­tled.  For five months it was besieged as the last bastion of the royal­ists by the parlia­mentary forces. About a thou­sand men, women and chil­dren were trapped and surren­dered only when they were close to star­va­tion.


Included in:
English Heritage Overseas Visitors Pass

The romantic castle ruins off the west coast of Conrnwall could for a long time only be reached by a narrow head­land and a steep ascent with over 100 steps. In the mean­time, the construc­tion of a pede­s­trian bridge connecting the small peninsula with the main­land has made access much easier for visitors.
The legend connects the castle with the legendary King Arthur, who fought the invading Angles and Saxons in the 9th century. Today, however, archae­ol­o­gists rather suspect that the castle was built in the 5th century as an early Chris­tian Celtic monastery and was already a ruin in the 15th century.

Included in:
English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass

Northwest of Bodmin Moor stand the ruins of Tintagel Castle, billed as the ances­tral home of the legendary King Arthur. The magic of King Arthur and the Round Table is reflected in the enchanting country­side of Cornwall. Fact is, a heroic knight led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the 6th century. The rest is folklore, mostly written by a Welsh monk six hundred years later. According to that account, the king was raised by a wizard named Merlin, took the throne at age 15, and married a Roman noblewoman named Guin­e­vere. After conquering all of Britain, the brave knight marched on Rome. In his absence his nephew Modredus seized the throne and seduced his wife. Arthur returned home and killed Modredus, but was fatally injured in the process. To prevent his death he is whisked off to the enchanted island of Aval­onia, never to be seen again. His magic sword, Excal­ibur, rests at the bottom of the sea. The popular legend created an entire genre of Arthurian romances, giving rise to such famous char­ac­ters as Lancelot, Parceval and the medieval lovers Tristan and Isolde.

Included in:
English Heritage Oversea Visitors Pass (Tintagel Castel)

The small town in Somerset has always been a place shrouded in legend. Joseph of Arimatia's grave lies on the hill of Glastonbury – the man who has taken Jesus' body from the cross and buried him. Legend has it that on its way to the Celts he took a rest here and pushed his walking stick into the ground. A bush of thorns has grown, still green today and flow­ering at Christmas. This is believed to be the place where Joseph buried the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus and his disciples drank from. Later on the now oldest church in the British Isles was built here. The ruins of a monastery dating back to the 6th century, are said to be the final resting place of King Arthur. Today, this place of legend attracts many mystics.

With a popu­la­tion of 450,000, Bristol is the sixth-largest city in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Avon in the Bristol Channel. During the Middle Ages, Bristol was the third-largest city after York and London, but faced a long and painful declined as a result of Black Death. The city regained its importance during the English colo­niza­tion of America and the slave trade. It is esti­mated that over one million slaves passed through Bristol on their way to New World. Bristol then fell behind Liver­pool in signif­icance starting in 1760. During the Second World War, the historic city center was completely razed by German bombs. The ruins were converted into a park where two bombed-out churches still stand as a memo­rial.

Beech forests cover the rolling hills, between picturesque villages and historic towns count­less sheep graze on lush meadows: As such, the Cotswolds are known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the north the Cotswold Hills are bordered by the Avon River, in the east they stretch all the way to Oxford. Sheep have made the area rich, and even the churches of the region are known as Wool Churches, because they were built with the money that has been earned in the wool trade. The area has remained wealthy because many rich Londoners have a second home here or retire here. Places of interest are Broadway, Burford, Chedworth, Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Painswick, and Stow-on-the-Wold.

Corsham is home to one of the the most beau­tiful English manor houses, which is also surrounded by a landscape park. Corsham Court was in royal hands as early as the Anglo-Saxon Period and it stands on the foun­da­tion of a 16th-century Eliz­a­bethan palace. Yet the estate did not receive its current appear­ance until the 18th and 19th centuries. Its magnif­i­cent rooms are a showcase for artistic treasures, statues, Chip­pendale furni­ture and paint­ings by Rubens and van Dyck.

This huge prehistoric site is best appre­ciated when seen from above, since then it becomes clear that the small town of Avebury is surrounded by a large stone circle with a diam­eter of over 400 meters. A bird's-eye view also reveals the exis­tence of two stone-lined alleys leading to the center of the circle. Yet even when passing through Avebury by car on A4.361 from A4, you cannot miss the huge stones rising out of the ground along both sides of the road. Avebury is the largest stone circle in the world and one of England's mystical places. 

Included in:
English Heritage Overseas Visitors Pass
National Trust Touring Pass

This ornate country house was built in imita­tion of Renais­sance archi­tec­ture, but dates to the 19th century. There have been previous build­ings standing here since the 8th century. The current Castle was designed by the archi­tect Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parlia­ment in West­minster. An entire village was relocated in 1774 to make room for the estate's 900 acre park. The remains of the village church can still be seen southwest of the palace. The 18th century amateur botanist and bishop Stephen Pococke planted cedars of Lebanon on the estate, some of which are still growing there today.

This is largest palace in the world and also the oldest one to have been cont­in­u­ously resided in. The origins of Windsor Castle date back to the time of William the Conqueror. In addi­tion to Buck­ingham Palace and Holy­rood Palace in Edinburgh, it is one of the offi­cial main resi­dences of the Queen. Lower down from this “English Versailles,” the Thames flows by on its way east toward London. 
The Queen has been living cont­in­u­ously in Windsor Castle since her 80th birthday. She only visits Buck­ingham Palace on offi­cial busi­ness. You know she is at Windsor when the royal coat of arms is visible on the Round Tower. In her absence, the Union Jack is flown instead. The palace is open daily to the public. (from March to October: 9.45 am – 5.45 pm) 

London's oldest food market is held between Borough High Street and Bedale Street. The Borough Market has a rustic atmo­sphere about it. The stands offer British cheese, fruit, jams, meat and chutneys as well as delica­cies from Spain and France. You can go grocery shopping here for a reason­able price and sample the wares. 
Market is held on Thurs­days from 11 am to 5 pm, Fridays from 12 pm to 6 pm and on Satur­days from 9 am to 4 pm.

This castle-like manor house dating to the Late Middle Ages is surrounded by a 1,000 acre estate, which has won several prizes for its landscape archi­tec­ture. A Victo­rian garden wall surrounds newly planted flower gardens criss­crossed with canals and winding paths. There is a also a maze made of a thou­sand yew trees. A Gothic tower standing in the middle of the labyrinth offers a 360 degree view of the gardens and the manor house. Tours are avai­l­able.