Whitley Court and Multiple Teas

Hello all! Daniel here again to keep you updated on our stay in Stourport.


We managed to sleep in again (not so spectacularly as last time, but still later than I would have liked), though we didn't pull off a full twelve hour sleep again, due to the ungodly hour of our final respite the night before. We had very tasty sausage sandwiches for breakfast (The food here has been infinitely better than anything we've been able to eat on the previous leg of our journey, if you're reading this, thank you so much Karen and Michael for that!), and lazily prepared ourselves for the day. After we had eaten, showered, and changed, Emma popped by for a visit and we all talked and drank tea, and Emma, Michael, and Karen worked on some stuff on the computer while Kamaljot and I blogged and read in the living room. I borrowed 'A Modest Proposal' from Kamaljot (by Jonathan Swift, mentioned before as the eating babies book on our second day in Dublin). I very much enjoyed it, despite having a slight craving for Joshua fricassee. After a dinner (lunch) of peanut butter sandwiches, Maurice popped by to pick Kamaljot, Michael, and I up for our trip out to Whitley Court.

The Church

After driving a few miles out of town, we came to a dirt road covered in potholes, which Maurice somehow managed to manoeuvre around (I would have given everybody whiplash going down that road) and ended up in front of a magnificent old church on a sprawling piece of land, known as Whitley Court. Whitley Court, the land, had been in the possession of the same family from the 13th century to the 1920s, and throughout the ages the layout of the grounds has taken many different shapes. The (now ruined) buildings of Whitley Manor were added in the mid-1600s and the church itself was built in the early 1700s and decorated in the 1720s by the Italian artist Antonio Bellucci. Inside the massive door of the church was a sight that I would expect to see in Florence rather than in the countryside of Worcestershire. It is entirely decorated in proper 18th century baroque style, with gold leaf everywhere and bright, descriptive frescoes and stained glass, and intricate woodworking all over. Usually I'm not one for baroque art, I tend to find it overstated and gaudy, but there was something about this church that instantly attracted me. It's as if it had taken all the things I disliked about baroque out of the decoration and kept all of the positive aspects. All of the paintings were stunning, and the pulpit itself was a masterpiece of woodworking. There was a very helpful guide in the church to show us around and to answer our questions, as well as numerous factsheets and displays about the art, architecture, and history of the church and the court. The entire scene was utterly unexpected and breathtaking. 

Frescoes on the ceiling

Intricate pulpit

Beautiful gold leaf all over

Looking at the church from the front

The massive door (and me!)

After Whitley Court we drove around the countryside a bit, taking in the gorgeous English scenery. Eventually we made our way back to Stourport and Maurice joined us for a cup of tea (Emma was still here, and the girls were home from school, so we had some nice conversation). Maurice and Emma left shortly after, and Robyn soon left for her last day of Rainbows before graduating (Graduating?) to brownies. While she was out, Hollie, Kamaljot, and I exhausted ourselves on the trampoline out back, having more fun than I've had in a long while. Once Robyn had returned, we had tea (dinner) of roast beef (Karen's amazing homemade roast), potatoes (two kinds), vegetables, and gravy. It was amazingly tasty and filled us all up completely. After tea (the meal), we walked over to Jean and Maurice's for tea (the drink). We had some more good conversation and heard some fond memories from mom's stay over here (Jean tells the best stories). We also got the chance to see Maurices classic car and some of Jean's old photographs. 

After a while we had to start walking back, as it was approaching Robyn's bedtime. Once we made it back we retired to the living room once more for some more Superstar, Tour de France, and blogging. 

I think I shall head off to bed now, as everyone else left me more than an hour ago, and I do sincerely plan on actually waking up at a decent time in the morning. Also, the blog is finally caught up! *cheer* Hopefully this is the beginning of a long streak.

Well, goodnight (or good afternoon for you Canadians, I suppose!)

-Daniel