Friday began with another great breakfast at Bindon Bottom. They really spoiled us there, it was excellent. Took us a while to get going in the morning and we were about an hour or more behind schedule when we finally cast off and set a heading for Montacute House. It was a rainy day, our first for the trip. This Elizabethan mansion was quite interesting, though most of the rooms were unfurnished. One fascinating thing was some writing on a couple of window panes, which had been there since 1770. It was inscribed by the then owner of the house, Edward Phelips V, with a diamond stylus, so they say. The text is a poem in Latin, and begins with the lines:
Felix cui mentis Vis & Divinor Ardor
Intima Naturae pandere sacra dedit
Qui potuit Causas Scrutari & foedera rerum
Qui Newtone tuis gressibus ire Comes
or translated into English:
Happy is the man who has a sharp mind and a spiritual passion
To reveal the innermost secrets of Nature,
Who can grasp the causes and relationships of things,
Who can walk in the footsteps of Newton.
Amazing to have lasted so long. There was an exhibition of paintings currently at the house, in the top floor gallery, from the National Portrait Gallery. Absolutely stunning works, and we were very lucky it happened to be there on our visit. Then we drove off towards Longleat House, but the Marquess was entertaining that weekend so it was partly inaccessible, so we decided to visit some other time.
We did happen on an interesting spot though; deep in the Somerset countryside is a tower, Alfred’s Tower, built as a folly in 1772 to commemorate the Battle of Edington in which Alfred defeated the Danes nearby in 878. It was a very nice, atmospheric site, and we were the only ones there for most of it. Then it was on to Avebury Stones, the largest stone monument site in Britain, and second only to Stone Henge in importance. Amazing spot. We had a nice coffee and cake in the cafe. We were so taken by it we got lost and had to find our way back to the car park!
We legged it towards Bath, stopping for a bit of a walk around the amazingly well preserved village of Lacock, which often features in period films. We made it to our hotel in Bath by late afternoon, probably the most impressive hotel of our whole trip, The Royal Crescent Hotel, right there in The Royal Crescent. It was sumptuous. We soaked it up for a while, enjoying the drawing room and our own gorgeous room, and then went for a Thai dinner at Thai By The Weir next to Pulteney Bridge. Delicious! Finally we made our way back to the hotel and turned in. Excellent day!
