A Victorian Christmas at Charlecote Park

We haven’t had time for visiting any National Trust houses in this year’s run-up to Christmas, so it was first on the list for my first full day of being on holiday. National Trust houses always look so cosy at Christmas, so they’re a great way of getting into the festive spirit! The only local one we haven’t seen decorated for Christmas is our favourite, Charlecote Park, so that’s where we went yesterday afternoon.

Before we even made it as far as the house itself, we were greeted by the amazing sight – and smell – of the most elaborate gingerbread house I’ve ever seen. Behold Charlecote Park in gingerbread form, the awe-inspiring creation of Jana, the volunteer photographer who photographed our Valentine’s Day tree planting. Isn’t it exquisite? It must have taken AGES!

I could never get tired of the view as you approach Charlecote Park. It’s such a beautiful building and it holds so many happy memories for us.

On the door was a reminder of the Christmas craft project I intended to do but never got round to!

Only the ground floor of the house was open, but it has been transformed into an 1842 Victorian Christmas, with the theme ‘Twelve days of Christmas’ and a special trail that you can follow to find all twelve trees and wreaths.

The Great Hall had two trees flanking its fireplace.

This was my favourite tree, adding a festive touch to the billiards room.

The dining room table was set for Christmas lunch, and we thought how much fun it must have been to enjoy Christmas in a house like this.

After we’d finished looking around the house we had a festive treat: mulled wine and cake in the Orangery restaurant. If the weather had been typical December weather, I’d have remarked how perfectly a glass of mulled wine warms you up – but the weather was 15 degrees, so it was more for the seasonal feeling than for warming me up!

This will be my last post until after Christmas, so I hope you all have a wonderful time – Merry Christmas!