Thursday, January 26, 2012

A Small Garden Treasure in York, England


The Treasurer's House, on the grounds behind the famous York Minster Cathedral in York, England


has a small and simple, yet charming garden at its front entrance


with a view of the cathedral.


   It is a quiet space behind the historic York Minster where


old statuary still delights


old pots still have purpose


and a stone bench hints to an ancient past.  


The Romans and the Vikings populated these grounds 2000 years ago.  The city itself is still surrounded by medieval walls.  This house (traditionally occupied by the treasurers of the York Minster, hence the name) is now a mostly 17th century building that has been restructured a few times.  The position of the treasurer was abolished by Henry VIII and, eventually, the house became part of National Trust in 1930.


The garden is free and visitors can tour the house for a small fee, stop in for tea and scones, and perhaps run into a few Roman ghosts down in the cellar that still has a portion of an old road built by them.  The house  is said to be haunted.


So if you take a long weekend or even a day trip from London to marvel at this amazing and complex cathedral that was completed in 1472 and took 250 years to complete, 


make sure to hunt down this simple little garden nearby.  
Because it is often the simple things we treasure the most.



This is Garden Envy. All rights reserved.