Days Out

Doddington Hall & Gardens

July 9, 2016

Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & Gardens Doddington Hall & GardensSince we became Historic House Association members, we’ve been trying to use our membership a little. It’s pretty much the same as a National Trust membership, but for smaller mostly privately owned houses that are usually only open a few days a week during the summer. We decided last weekend to go and explore Doddington Hall & Gardens.

It’s about a 15 minute drive from the centre of Lincoln, so you could pull that in for a little trip too, as it seems like such a nice place (we visited one evening a few years ago while Shane was collecting a new phone and stopped for some dinner by the canalside).

In all honesty, I actually didn’t like it much there. The walls were crumbling, there was water damage, and it didn’t seem ‘cozy’ like a lot of the other places that we visit. One of the rooms that I did like though was the tent room which sadly I forgot to take a photo of (but luckily my mum took a photo of it), but it had an old Egyptian tent that was made in the early 1900s. Because it is too delicate to put up outside, it’s been partially put up in one of the old bedrooms. It was amazing!

I really liked the gardens there. They had a huge walled kitchen garden that was restored in 2007 and provides food to the cafe and farm shop, a nice formal garden full of flowers and water features, then a long walkway to the temple at the end of the garden (we didn’t walk there, but my parents did and said it wasn’t all that amazing).

We stopped for some bakewell slices and a juice in their cafe before heading home. It was a nice day out, but definitely not my favourite ‘old’ house to explore – though my mum didn’t even notice the cracked walls and absolutely loved it there haha!

Save

  • Reply
    Kyia Belle
    July 9, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    Doddington sounds more like that place where you go to take photos, or simply take a look around its rustic looks. Happy to hear your mom enjoyed it, haha! x

    • Reply
      April
      July 9, 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Haha! Yea, it’s a shame because I was so excited to visit (I actually dragged them up there with us to see it haha). At least the gardens were alright though.
      xo April

  • Reply
    Carmen
    July 9, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    Oh my goodness! What a beautiful place. I absolutely love the gardens! :]

    // ▲ itsCarmen.com ▲

    • Reply
      April
      July 9, 2016 at 8:38 pm

      The gardens were my favourite part! So pretty!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Emma
    July 9, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    As a slightly obsessive National Trust member, I’m actually ashamed that I’ve not even heard of the Historical Houses Association! Is it good value for money? It seems quite expensive given that the properties aren’t open anywhere near as consistently as the National Trust, so I’d be curious to know what you think.

    Emma / adventuresinfloral.co.uk

    • Reply
      April
      July 10, 2016 at 7:35 am

      We hadn’t heard of it before either until about a month ago! I think in terms of the number of houses to visit and the price of the membership (I think it’s a little cheaper based on a joint adult membership) it’s better value than the National Trust, but then you have the thing of them not being open as much.
      As far as I can tell, most of the houses that we have visited are open one day during the week and then most of the times a Sunday. There are a few of the bigger ones like Burghley that are open everyday. Some of the houses hold private events so you have to check specific dates before you leave, but there’s a lot of them around so you could always visit another.
      We’ve found that to visit some of the houses without the HHA membership is like £18pp, but then some are also like £9 so I don’t think it’s too bad really – a few visits and your membership has paid for itself. We’ll probably join again next year, because there are just so many houses to see!
      Hope that helps?!
      xo April

  • Reply
    the adventurer
    July 9, 2016 at 11:23 pm

    The gardens look so fun to explore =o) And such beautiful weather you had =o)

    http://dreamofadventures.blogspot.com/

    • Reply
      April
      July 10, 2016 at 7:48 am

      Yeah, I liked the gardens! We were so lucky with the weather that day – we had a couple dark clouds over us at times, but the rain held off! 🙂
      xo April

  • Reply
    Angelina
    July 10, 2016 at 4:23 am

    I wish we had old houses like this in California! It looks absolutely amazing in pictures, too bad it wasn’t as great in real life.

    Angelina Is | Bloglovin’

    • Reply
      April
      July 10, 2016 at 7:51 am

      That’s probably the best thing about living in the UK is there is no end of old houses to explore! I hope you get to visit some sometime!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Kate
    July 10, 2016 at 4:33 am

    This place is dreamy! Such pretty photos…looks like you had such a nice time!
    -Kate // http://www.classyandkate.com

    • Reply
      April
      July 10, 2016 at 7:49 am

      Thank you! It was a good day out!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Emily Lowery
    July 10, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    This place looks gorgeous and I love your photos! xo

    Emily | emsalice.com

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:03 am

      Aww thanks!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Laura
    July 10, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    Wow, love the photos!!

    http://www.lauramacij.com/2016/07/neutral-in-claire.html

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:04 am

      Thank you! 🙂
      xo April

  • Reply
    Lucy
    July 10, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    Such a shame that it didn’t feel that cosy! And a shame about the damage and cracks too. It looks really lovely from your photos but sometimes an atmosphere can really ruin it, no matter how beautiful! Me being me, I’m going to put that lack of cosiness down to ghostly goings on ahaha. Hadn’t heard of the Historic House Association before, thanks for the pointer 🙂 xxx
    Lucy @ La Lingua : Food | Travel | Italy

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:05 am

      Hahah! I wouldn’t be suprised to be honest – it is over 400 years old!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Emily
    July 10, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    Wow – this place is gorgeous. Give me a second while I move to the UK. Hahah!!
    xoxo, emily // East 91 Blog

    http://www.east91blog.com/

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:05 am

      Aww haha! I’m glad you like it!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Colleen | ColleenWelsch.com
    July 10, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    That tent is the coolest! I still think the place looks nice…probably because we have nothing like that in Southern California!

    COLLEENWELSCH.COM | An LA Lifestyle Blog

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:06 am

      I know right?! I’m so annoyed that I didn’t get a photo of it, but luckily my parents came through ahha! I bet it would be amazing outside fully up!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Sharon Wu
    July 11, 2016 at 2:09 am

    Wow, beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing xo, sharon

    http://www.stylelullaby.com

    • Reply
      April
      July 11, 2016 at 7:06 am

      Thanks!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Jalisa
    July 11, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    I’ve never heard of the Historic House Association or anything like it before, it sounds awesome and a great way to step into history, literally 🙂 The property looks amazing and I’m sure the experience was too! Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great week ahead, beauty!

    XO,

    Jalisa
    http://www.thestylecontour.com

    • Reply
      April
      July 12, 2016 at 7:31 am

      Yeah, it’s pretty cool as you get to wander around all these houses that you probably wouldn’t be able to see usually. So fun!
      xo April

  • Reply
    hannah cornish
    July 11, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    Beautiful photographs! I love exploring historical places. It’s a shame you didn’t love this one as much – but the gardens definitely are beautiful!

    hannatalks

    • Reply
      April
      July 12, 2016 at 7:32 am

      Thanks! Yea, I’m sure it would have been really nice if it was a little more cozy and the walls weren’t looking like they were falling down haha! The gardens were nice though!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Gingersnaphattie
    July 21, 2016 at 9:41 am

    This sounds like such a lovely day out 🙂 My partner and I would love this! I’m glad you had such a wonderful time.
    xoxo
    http://gingersnaphattie.blogspot.fr

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: