Ascott House

Valerie drove us all there.

We were fortunate to have an NT 'buggy' offered to us on arrival near the car park, so arrived at the house 'in State'. Could have done with a 'buggy' for last few outings to NT places.

Originally a 16 C farmhouse it was remodelled by the Rothschild family in the 1800's as a hunting lodge, having extensive grounds.

In recent years the family have donated the house and grounds  to the NT but retain rights to stay there, so the top floor is off limits until they abandon it.

It's quite 'homely' for a change and has some very significant works of art and collections. Photographs inside not allowed -presumably for security reasons, but I discovered I'd accidentally taken one before I knew.

Grounds are very well laid out and attractive.

The Rothschild family were the first investors to pull the plug on fossil fuels following the collective opinions of climate scientists and labelled them 'stranded assets'. There's enough scientists in the family, I imagine.