Travelling back to Winchester from Chawton I did a quick search of things to do that would still be open late afternoon. The most obvious place seemed to be the English Heritage site Wolvesey Castle which could be accessed following a pleasant 10 minute walk along the River Itchen which is where I got off the bus.
Back in March I travelled down to Winchester for a week, in part because visiting some Jane Austen related sites has long been on my bucket list, but also because I got an insanely cheap deal on train tickets. Unfortunately Jane Austen’s House was closed for refurbishment (but you can see a photo of the outside further down) – this includes things like her writing desk so I will be back at some point. But within the same village is Chawton House where she spent a lot of her time – it belonged to Austen’s brother Edward and is still owned by his descendents (though run via the Chawton House Trust as a charity).
Here’s my final post about Shrewsbury in Shropshire with a round up of all the random places I took photos of that don’t fit into their own posts. We’ll start off with my accommodation which was at Darwin’s Townhouse. A family owned B&B in an 18th century Georgian townhouse centrally located in Shrewsbury town centre it was a lovely place to stay. It could be a little loud at night because there are several pubs nearby but nothing too outrageous and it was more than made up for by the comfortable room, delicious breakfasts and fun decor throughout – Charles Darwin was born in the town and baptised at St. Chad’s Church.
On my last afternoon in Shrewsbury I decided to take a trip on a boat along the River Severn. There are daily trips between 1st March until 31st October and 11am to 4pm, leaving on the hour. I’d read that seats are issued in order of booking so you’re not guaranteed a seat on the top deck which is why I decided to book in advance as I’d seen long queues for the boats when I’d walked by on previous days. Thankfully though there was plenty of room on top for my 3pm trip on a random Thursday despite there also being several parties on board celebrating birthdays.
The Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery is a free museum in the centre of the town housed in a former music hall dating from 1835 but also spreads out through a 13th century mansion.
I knew absolutely nothing Shrewsbury Castle before I arrived in Shrewsbury other than that it existed. I had assumed that visiting I would learn all about the history of the castle and why it was built, but I learnt basically nothing about the castle’s origins because the castle in fact houses The Soldiers of Shropshire Museum which spans the entirety of the building.
The V&A is my favourite London museum and I had time to enjoy a brief wander around while in between exhibitions. Here are a few of the things that particularly caught my eye. We’ll start with Cleopatra Dying by Henry-Joseph-Francis, Baron de Triqueti. The scene depicted is of course Cleopatra killing herself via asp, unwilling to go on without her lover Marc Anthony.
The cathedral was the last of the religious buildings I visited in Shrewsbury and again I received a very warm welcome. The cathedral was designed by Edward Pugin, 18 year old son of Augustus Pugin of Palace of Westminster design fame. It was finished in 1856 and paid for by Bertram, Earl of Shrewsbury.
Lincoln’s Inn Fields, near to Sir John Soane’s Museum, is the largest public square in London. I had a brief walk through here – and stopped off at the cafe for a quick drink after visiting the museum. It was created in the 1630s and as you can see is a very popular spot for dog walking.
St. Chad’s certainly dominates the skyline of Shrewsbury particularly from the Quarry area. It was completely empty when I wandered through and so I didn’t spend much time there just admired the interior then left with a detour through the churchyard next door.
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