Bishops Court Palace

A day of rain and I was on a walk with the local walking group.  Fortunately it was only a 6 mile walk, had a pub lunch and was an opportunity for me to test my new waterproof jacket.  

It was a local walk starting from the railway station of Newport walking over the historic Clyst River Bridge to Clyst St Mary. Here we walked through farmland and fields to the small village of Sowton where we had a coffee break in the grounds (or rather the porch as it was still raining) of the fascinating  St Michael and All Angels church.  There has apparently been four churches on this site with the first vicar recorded in 1278.  The church is Grade 1 listed and in the rare Tractarian design and is of considerable significance.  When the church was rebuilt the C16 Beer stone perpendicular arcade was retained with its unusual capitols ie one with the symbols of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, a pomegranate and Tudor rose wheel, see extra.

We then walked down Bishops Court Lane crossing the River Clyst and heading towards Bishops Court Palace, which appears as rather a majestic building from the distance.  Crossing the fields we came to the current entrance which gives no indication of its past grandness and just has a sign indicating small businesses that work in its grounds.

It was then a matter of walking a further few miles through Clyst St Mary and retracing our steps back to the pub where we had a well earned lunch.

Despite the almost constant rain it was a good walk.  Funny how sometimes you can be out walking in the rain and it doesn't seem quite as bad as when you are inside in the dry looking out.