In the first of a couple of posts today in a similar vein. This one also comes with an apology.
A few weeks ago, I posted a piece about the appearance of some glasshouses in a Jim Al-Khalili TV programme about gravity, shown back at the end of March.
Because a good deal of the programme was shot at the Observatory Science Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, where there are walled gardens, I’d assumed that the glasshouses were at Herstmonceux, too. More fool me.
As an old colleague of mine would say, “to assume makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’,” and how right he is. Those glasshouses are not at Herstmonceux, at all. Not one but two authoritative sources have told me that the glasshouses are, in fact, at Copped Hall House, in Essex.
Allowed to fall derelict, becoming the prey of developers, a campaign to save the hall and gardens was run from 1986 until 1995, when they were finally purchased by the Copped Hall Trust. The Corporation of London had previously bought the parkland, so it was already safe.
Still a work in progress, Copped Hall is private and normally closed to the public while inside and outside restoration continues (including the glasshouses!).
However, it is possible to see the house and gardens as there are various open days/guided tours, garden afternoons, and special events. See the Copped Hall website for details
A few weeks ago, I posted a piece about the appearance of some glasshouses in a Jim Al-Khalili TV programme about gravity, shown back at the end of March.
Because a good deal of the programme was shot at the Observatory Science Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, where there are walled gardens, I’d assumed that the glasshouses were at Herstmonceux, too. More fool me.
As an old colleague of mine would say, “to assume makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’,” and how right he is. Those glasshouses are not at Herstmonceux, at all. Not one but two authoritative sources have told me that the glasshouses are, in fact, at Copped Hall House, in Essex.
Allowed to fall derelict, becoming the prey of developers, a campaign to save the hall and gardens was run from 1986 until 1995, when they were finally purchased by the Copped Hall Trust. The Corporation of London had previously bought the parkland, so it was already safe.
Still a work in progress, Copped Hall is private and normally closed to the public while inside and outside restoration continues (including the glasshouses!).
However, it is possible to see the house and gardens as there are various open days/guided tours, garden afternoons, and special events. See the Copped Hall website for details