A few weeks back on one of the hottest days of the year we were challenged by Brancott Estate wines to do something for the very first time for their #BrancottFirsts campaign. We choose to take a quintessentially English picnic in the grounds of beautiful Waddesdon Manor, located near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, only about a mostly very scenic hour and a half drive away from London.
Built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1874 as a country retreat in the style of a grand Loire chateau it’s now a National Trust property administered by a Rothschild charitable trust. The manor was built in the style of a Neo-Renaissance château of the Loire Valley between 1874 and 1889 to display the Baron’s outstanding collection of art treasures and to entertain the fashionable world.
The gardens offer fine well kept gardens, immaculate lawns and beautiful vistas opening up across the Chilterns. During the spring and the summer, the series of gardens are ablaze with colour and all year round they offer a very impressive collection of garden statuary. The formal gardens open up to rolling parkland with hidden glades, magnificent woodland and picturesque views and vistas of the vastly underrated Chilterns.
The house is both unusual – unlike anything other country house I’ve seen in England – and magnificent and unsurprisingly the house and grounds have provided the background to many a film and TV series including the 2006 production The Queen and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
On our picnic, complete with wicker basket, an ample supply of strawberries and sandwiches and hours of unbroken glorious sunshine, I felt enveloped in a bubble of an England time forgot…
This post was brought to you in partnership with Brancott Estates Wines. Photos by Gary Nunn.
19 Comments
Serhat
7 October, 2017 at 6:52 pmYour photos are lovely. The architecture and wine, perfect together.
Mitchell
21 August, 2017 at 12:15 pmYeah! It’s such a wonderful place to have a picnic. I was there last summer with my family. The scene, environment represents just a perfect place to spend some time away from home. You also get awesome pictures there. I’m sure going back there few more times this year.
Becky Moore
14 September, 2017 at 1:54 pmYes a very photogenic place! 🙂
Izy Berry
25 July, 2017 at 8:43 amOh wow this isn’t too far from London, I really need to get out more and explore the countryside especially in the summer!
Becky Moore
25 July, 2017 at 8:45 amNo it’s a very pretty drive too once you get off the motorway! 🙂
Binny Shah-Patel
25 July, 2017 at 8:42 amLove this post it looks so sunny and English 🙂
Binny
Becky Moore
25 July, 2017 at 8:45 amIt was both of those things 😉
Tanja T
25 July, 2017 at 8:42 amJust wonderful it looks like you’re in a film!
Becky Moore
25 July, 2017 at 8:46 amThe setting was so beautiful, no surprise to me that it was used for lots of film sets.
Emma Brown
25 July, 2017 at 8:32 amSuch a beautiful looking place and absolutely love the old fashioned picnic basket, I must do this myself one day! 🙂
Becky Moore
25 July, 2017 at 8:47 amWas a fab experience would definitely recommend it!
Scott Balaam
25 July, 2017 at 8:30 amVery cool photos and location, I’ve been here once many years back and remember it being a great place!
Becky Moore
25 July, 2017 at 8:48 amThanks for commenting Scott, yes still is for sure 😉
Marc
23 July, 2017 at 5:28 pmThe estate looks wonderful and it is good to know that the estate was featured in several of my favorites movies.
Becky Moore
24 July, 2017 at 4:53 pmIt’s a gorgeous place I can see why they use it so much for films!
Rosie P
22 July, 2017 at 7:32 pmWhat a beautiful place for a picnic, wonderful photos too!
Becky Moore
24 July, 2017 at 4:53 pmThank you Rosie, yes very! 🙂
Agness of eTramping
22 July, 2017 at 2:11 pmThis is a truly picturesque place! I’d love to have a picnic there one day!
Becky Moore
24 July, 2017 at 4:54 pmIt was the perfect setting for a picnic on a summer’s day, you would love it there I’m sure 🙂