Love and Happiness: Herstmonceux Castle

Herstmonceux Castle- "By the end of the 12th Century, the family at the manor house at Herste had considerable status. Written accounts mention a lady called Idonea de Herste, who married a Norman nobleman named Ingelram de Monceux. Around this time, the manor began to be called the 'Herste of the Monceux’; a name that eventually became Herstmonceux (pronounced Herst-mon-soo)."

We spent the day at Hertsmonceux on Sunday.

The moated castle is now an educational centre, having been donated to a Canadian University and therefore is not open to the public.

The gardens were laid out in such a way that one led into another and another, each one opening to a fresh delight. Everywhere were little blackboards with sayings - mostly from Shakespeare. There were a couple of sundials, random sculptures, butterflies, bees, Canadian geese, a displaying peacock and a distinctly unimpressed peahen. A wonderland for children and adults alike.

Once we'd explored all the gardens, we moved into the surrounding forested area where we found, much to our happy surprise - Herst-Henge.

Various tree stumps have been placed in a circle, some of them with runes etched in red.

The first rune we saw was BEORC - 'New Beginnings' birth, marriage. I found this very apt and no coincidence - the day before had been the Super Moon and we'd experienced some new beginnings.
The only rune we couldn't find was ODAL - 'Legacy'. Lol, Greg pointed out that I'd left a legacy when I quickly nipped into the bushes to have a pee.

Once we'd explored the whole area, we sat under the Chestnut trees in the tea garden having a bite to eat.