On 10th June, WAGS visited Wilton House near Salisbury which has been the home of the Earls of Pembroke since the sixteenth century when Henry VIII gave the dissolved Benedictine Abbey and its lands to his brother-in-law and favourite William Herbert. (William married Anne Parr - sister of Catherine, Henry VIII’s 6th wife). Wilton House has remained in the family since that time and is now the home of Henry Herbert - the 17th Earl of Pembroke. He built an impressive house and landscaped gardens which have been altered and added to over the years, but remain an attractive house with beautiful gardens.

We started our visit in the huge riding school - now a museum displaying many interesting documents and artefacts reflecting the interests and activities of the family down the years. It also has a small cinema in which we watched a film describing the history of the house and family.

We then made our tour of the house, owing to there being few visitors that day we were able to enjoy at our leisure the beautiful rooms and impressive display of pictures - most notable being the famous "double cube" room with its wonderful Van Dyck portraits.

After lunch we explored the grounds, extensive lawns with magnificent trees and the Palladium bridge over the River Nadder. The old fashioned rose garden at the height of its glory - full of colour and scent, and the Japanese water garden with a wide variety of water plants along the streams. The present Earl of Pembroke is a keen gardener as shown by the attractive and complicated knot Garden and the memorial garden to his father in the north forecourt with spectacular fountain surrounded by pleached limes and "honeysuckle trees"

Some of the party ventured further a field into the town in search of the plant stall and returned triumphant with an impressive collection of plants!

Another successful outing arranged as usual by Iris with her never failing expertise. Thank you for a memorable day.

Mrs Hilary Christie