On a rare sunny afternoon in January we took a bus over to here, Blenheim Palace, about 10 miles from Oxford.
The interesting things I remember at this point aren't actually about the palace.
One of them is this gate: You can't tell from the photo, but it's fenceless and all by itself, like the magic door in The Last Battle, except the world stays the same when you go through. Good thing, too, because at least one person has to walk through it every seven years. It marks one of Britain's many public right-of-way footpaths, and in order for these to legally stay public, they have to be used at least once in seven years. Mercifully, there's an association that ensures this happens.
All the landscaping at Blenheim - water, hills, trees - is artificial: It's meant to look rustic and natural but actually isn't. Hidden meanings are everywhere. Even the trees are planted to match the position of troops in some battle (I can't remember which).
Oh, and this bridge: They built it too big, and the tiny stream trickling under it looked rather puny. So they brought in more water to make it look respectable.
More to follow.
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