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Sep 5

A Medieval castle rising dramatically above a celebrated garden.

Powis Castle Wales is a  medieval castle on a rock, with a seventeenth century garden. It has a great late-renaissance terrace garden which steps down the hill. It is the nearest thing to a Tuscan renaissance garden in the British Isles. The terraces were built in the seventeenth century (c1680) and are shown in an engraving of 1742. The valley floor has been, successively, a water garden, a landscape park by William Emes, a kitchen garden and, now, a flower garden. The terraces at Powis Castle have sculpture, fantastically mounded yew trees, and National Trust planting.

The world-famous garden, overhung with clipped yews, shelters rare and tender plants. Laid out under the influence of Italian and French styles, it retains its original lead statues and an orangery on the terraces. High on a rock above the terraces, the castle, originally built circa 1200, began life as a medieval fortress.

Remodelled and embellished over more than 400 years, it reflects the changing needs and ambitions of the Herbert family - each generation adding to the magnificent collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture and tapestries.

A superb collection of treasures from India is displayed in the Clive Museum.

Posted 8 months ago

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British, Clive Museum, Herbert, Landscape Architecture, Medieval, Powis, castle, garden, garden art, garden design, terrace, water garden, park,

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