The Hercules Garden, Blair Castle

At nine acres, the Hercules Garden at Blair Castle is said to the largest walled garden in Scotland.

The garden takes its name from the statue of Hercules placed in 1743 on top of a small hill just outside the south wall, from where there is a splendid view down into the garden below.

The Hercules garden was laid out by James Murray, the 2nd Duke of Atholl (1690-1764). He had the bottom of the small boggy valley turned into a series of ponds.

The ponds are dotted with islands, one with a miniature plantation of trees, several with duck houses, another known as the melon ground is actually a herb garden,

A 'Chinese' style bridge crosses one of the ponds.

The slopes on either side of the ponds are planted with widely spaced vertical lines of fruit trees, known locally as 'breaks'. The garden also incorporates herbaceous borders and a vegetable plot.

In the west wall is a small stone building known as the Apple House, furnished with a covetable 'country made' chair.

In the 1888's a gazebo known as MacGregor's Folly,named after a friend of the Duchess was included at the east end of the garden.

In 1924 elaborate gates were hung to celebrate the silver wedding of the 8th Duke and his wife.

But by the end of the Second World War the garden had fallen into decline and all the greenhouses were in a state of dilapidation. It was the late 10th Duke of Atholl (1931-1996), known as 'Wee Iain' who initiated the restoration. He died in 1996, the year the restored garden was opened to the public, and is commemorated in an inscribed stone as well as in the statues of a shepherd and a shepherdess beside MacGregor's Folly.

Bath House, Corsham Court

The Gothic Bath House at Corsham Court was built by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown  is the only one of the three garden buildings which he designed at Corsham that still stands. It was later remodelled and further Gothicised by John Nash between 1797 and 1802. The ogee shaped arches, the windows, Gothic niches and the roof pinnacles all survive from Brown's original pavillion.

The Bath House was intended to provide an invigorating cold dip. The cold bath is sunk into an arcaded ground floor and a flight of steps leads to a dressing room above.The last member of the Methuen family to use it regularly was the Field-Marshal Lord Methuen (1846-1932).

In the Bath House a door leads into a narrow tunnel with stucco walls encrusted with fir cones, hazel twigs and the remains of moss. This leads into the Bradford Porch, a late-Medieval doorway with a fan-vaulted ceiling that was erected here as a summerhouse by the 4th Lord Methuen in 1968 having been brought from The Priory at Bradford-on-Avon, formerly a Methuen property. The major part of the Priory was demolished in 1936.

The major part of the Priory was demolished in 1936.

Conservatory, Dalkeith Palace

The extraordinary twelve sided conservatory at Dalkeith designed by William Burn was built in 1832. What appears to be just the central supporting column of the conservatory is in fact a cast iron chimney to service the furnaces used to heat the building which are concealed underneath.

Impressive though the structure undoubtedly still is, even in its present ruined condition, it is sad to see something quite so splendid and unusual not being given the due care and attention it so richly deserves and is being allowed to slides further into decay.

The 5th Duke of Buccleuch had initially engaged William Burn to enlarge Dalkeith Palace, the model is preserved at Bowhill, but although those plans came to nothing, he was kept very  busy elsewhere. Burn remodeled Branxholme Castle in the Borders in 1837 which had been owned by the Scott's since the 1420's. Burn also worked on Bowhill nearby but his greatest triumph was in persuading the Duke to demolish Montagu House on the banks of the Thames at Westminster and replace it between 1853-1859 with a building in the French Renaissance style. Montagu House was demolished after the First World War to make way for the Air Ministry.

Tea Cottage, Mellerstain House

The Tea or 'Old' Cottage was constructed in late 19th century in the policies of Mellerstain House as picturesque venue for the Hamilton family and their guests to take tea in the afternoon.

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Armadale Castle

The Clan Donald became established on the Isle of Skye in the 15th century. Armadale Castle is on the southern side of the island in the lands of Sleat. The legendary Flora MacDonald came to Armadale after helping Bonnie Prince Charlie and was arrested nearby. She later married at Armadale. The present house, designed by James Gillespie Graham was built for Lord MacDonald of Sleat in 1815.

In 1855 fire destroyed much of the original castle which was replaced by the current central section designed by David Bryce in 1858. In 1925 the MacDonald family moved out to a smaller house nearby leaving the roofless Armadale Castle open to the elements.

The original entrance to the castle, now described as a 'sculptured' ruin is a popular wedding venue. The grand Imperial Staircase makes a dramatic backdrop to the ceremonies while the views across to the Knoydart Peninsula  are unrivalled.

In 1971 the ruined castle and the 20 000 acre estate were bought by the Clan Donald Society who opened it  up to visitors and founded the Museum of the Isles.

Hamlet, Chantilly

In 1775, Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conde engaged his architect, Jean-Francois Leroy, to create a model village in the park at Chantilly. From its outward appearance, the hamlet resembled a peasants' settlement; however, the interiors were luxuriously furnished, for the private use of the Conde family, the Prince's daughter, Mademoiselle de Conte dressed up as a farmer's wife, or when entertaining friends. Every cottage had its own specific use; as a drawing room, a billiard room, and a dining room. The drawing room was lined with luxurious pink silk. The interior of the dining room was decorated with a trompe-l'oeil depiction of vegetation.

The Dining Room

The Drawing Room

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conde (1736-1818)

During the course of the 18th century many important guests were to be entertained at the Hamlet; Marie Antoinette's brother, Emperor Joseph II of Austria, Louis XV's daughters, the Mesdames Tantes, Adelaide, Victoire and Sophie; and also the Compt du Nord, the future Emperor Paul I of Russia and his wife, who according to the record were to eat supper there. According to the  account of Baroness d'Oberkirch:  "Supper was served in the Hamlet, a picturesque collection of rural dwellings amidst English style gardens. The biggest cottage is covered with green foliage inside, and outside is surrounded by all the tools needed by a master ploughman. It is inside his cottage, comprising a single oval room, that we had supper around a dozen small tables seating ten or twelve each. It was convenient, cheerful, without fuss and perfectly well devised."

Overdoor depicting the Hamlet in the private apartments of the Duke d'Aumal, Chantilly

The Hamlet at Chantilly inspired  Marie Antoinette to build her own hamlet at Versailles. Unlike the Queen, the Prince of Conde managed to flee France at the Revolution and in doing so undoubtedly saved his neck.

Fountain Garden, Formakin

Stockbroker John Augustus Holms and the celebrated Scottish architect Robert Lorimer met as fellow members of the Fine Arts Committee for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901. This friendship led to the building of the extraordinary and wonderful collection of buildings at Formakin in Renfrewshire near Glasgow. Holms, a passionate gardener started in 1903 by laying out the park and garden, taking advice from Gertrude Jekyll's whose work at Munstead Wood in Surrey was a great influence

The formal Fountain Garden was laid out to the north east of the proposed mansionhouse. The sundial at the center of the Fountain Garden is protected by four stone lion fountains.

Each of the four faces of the plinth supporting the sundial has an apposite motto from Sir Robert Lorimer for all us mortals.

'Today is thine'

'Misuse it not'

'Yesterday Returneth Not'

'Tommorow perchance cometh not'

The delightful garden pavillion in the corner of the Fountain Garden.

A few heart shaped stones laid into the path to the from the policies to the Fountain Garden take the breath away.

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Flower Pot Gate, Hampton Court Palace

Of all the landmarks that I passed to and from my late father's house to his care home by the Thames, the Flower Pot Gate always made me smile. Other gates at Hampton Court Palace may be more imposing; with lions and unicorns and many, many more swags, but to me the charming Flower Pot Gate steals the show.

The lead boys and their flowerpots were produced by the workshop of John Nost c1700.

The boys and their flowerpots stand on  the piers of the gate at the road end of the Broad Walk