Rousham Park & Waterperry Gardens, Oxon
Tuesday 24 May 2016 9am - 7.30pm
Meet on Piccadilly near the RA for coach
£87 (including coach, coffee, lunch, glass of wine). Friends only.
Friends of the RA book first
Booking and attending Friends excursions and events
We privately tour Rousham Park which was built in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer and has been in the ownership of the same family ever since as a much-loved family home. Rousham is considered to represent one of the best surviving combinations of William Kent’s architecture and landscape design since he transformed it in 1738 from a Tudor palace to a gothic-style mansion.
In the afternoon we visit Waterperry Gardens, once a horticultural college and surrounded by beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers, classical borders, modern planting, secrets corners and long vistas. Following an introduction from the museum curator, Friends can also visit the museum, the local church which contains rare 12th century floor tiles and lancet windows dating back to 1220 and the Art in Action Gallery with contemporary paintings, ceramics, jewellery and textiles by Oxfordshire-based artists.