Baddesley Clinton in the Winter

Baddesley Clinton through the trees

We are fortunate that we live within 10 minutes’ drive of two National Trust properties, Packwood House and Baddesley Clinton.  We joined the National Trust when the children were young renewing our membership annually.  From a photographer’s viewpoint, both properties are photogenic. They have all the necessary ingredients, an old house, beautiful gardens and lots of different viewpoints. Having visited them both with family and overseas visitors over the years, I have got to know their layout well. At a time of lockdown, both sites have been invaluable places to visit to recharge batteries and help lift flagging spirits. 

The red brick side of the house
The red brick side of the house

This blog features Baddesley Clinton which has a moated house and a picturesque lake walk.  Sandy and I pre-booked our Sunday visit.  The property was quiet and had Covid19 precautions in place.  This meant no shop or restaurant and a one-way system around the grounds.  Needless to say the house was not open either.   End of January, the gardens were bare, and the woodland walk had been cleared of dead trees and undergrowth.  In spite of the stark landscape there was still natural beauty to be had.  Baddesley is so well photographed and I set myself a task to take different pictures of this much-loved National Trust property.   

A bare tree with the house in the back ground
A bare tree with the house in the back ground
The summer house looking bare
The summer house looking bare

The south facing side of the property shows off the red brick colour of the building with ornate windows.  I took a photograph where I juxta positioned one of the bare trees in the garden.  It tells the viewer that it is winter and also signposts that you are at Baddesley.  Other pictures include the Lakeland walk with closeups of the trees and moss attached.  The pictures provide texture and interest in a landscape that has few if any flowers in it.  There were a few bulbs awaking.  The trees without leaves give the final winter look and the black and white processing accentuates this appearance. 

The final pictures of the house are where most of the publicity pictures of the property are taken.  The moat around the property provides a fairy tale look to it.  The North side of the house has a granite brick fascia and impressive chimneys.  The angles are many and getting down low gives a different viewpoint.  The entrance to the house is also impressive and I tried to accentuate this by taking a picture at distance.

The House looking quiet
The House looking quiet
Baddesley Clinton House
That image of Baddesley that has to be taken!
Front of Baddesley Clinton
A touch of processing to give the entrance approach a timeless quality

Phototip All the pictures were taken with my Fujifilm x100v which acts like a 35mm camera.  I enjoy the nostalgic feel to the camera.  The majority of the pictures are on aperture control which work well.  If the light is good, then I get off this setting and move to manual.  I go for a low ISO 160 on this camera and then change the aperture and the shutter speed accordingly.  The fixed length does make me move for the picture and therefore I am always re-evaluating the view I see both in my head and in the camera.

Want to know more about Baddesley Clinton
Official National Trust site for Baddesley Clinton
You can always take a look on Wikipedia!!!
Nearby visits
Packwood House in the Mist



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2 years ago

[…] to photograph. I am very fortunate to have several properties near to me including Packwood House, Baddesley Clinton and Coughton Court. These have featured in my past blogs as the links show. One place where I have […]

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