Stoneywell is our nearest National Trust property but, as it was closed for an extended period during 2020-21, it didn’t really make it onto our radar. However, we finally got round to paying a visit today and it is definitely somewhere I could see us returning to.

The cottage was built at the end of the nineteenth century and is a classic example of work inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. What exists today isn’t quite like the original design, thanks to an electrical fire (shortly after the house got mains electricity in the late 1930s) which destroyed the thatched roof. However, just like the house fits in the landscape like it grew there hundreds of years ago, the slatework is a perfect fit. It remains one of few examples (perhaps the only one) that hasn’t been changed by significant modernisations.

The gardens too are worth a visit. They aren’t neatly manicured but show how a mixture of plants (including, apparently, many cheap items picked up from Woolworths) can mature into harmony given time and space.