National Trust: Mottisfont Abbey Garden House and Estate

Part of The National Trust so it would pay you to join and save money on entry to many other Houses!  We went here last year with the rest of the family.  Wheelchair facilities could be improved as we found it a little "bumpy".
Generally, it is a well kept house.  There is an excellent art gallery that has constantly changing exhibitions/displays.  There is the evr popular Ice Cream Parlour that serves up some delicious flavours, a second hand bookshop, a Yard Kiosk and some good old Kitchen Cooking.......try the Chocolate and Beetroot Cake.....different!!
Some really good plant stock can be bought at quite inexpensive prices.
I particularly liked the Cellarium where the Friars kept their stocks.  The Abbey part on show was a little disappointing, (much nicer at Beaulei).
Another interesting observation, I found, was the different archetectral styles/designs/influences on the South facing part of the building.

Despite being from Hampshire, I had never been to Mottisfont, and went on a beautiful winter’s day more for the cafe than the house, but enjoyed it all. The cafe is entered through the side of the house facing the river, and one passes two fabulously ancient plane trees, one with the widest girth in England. The heart of the Old Kitchen cafe is indeed the old kitchen, a large and light room with a huge table in the middle art which many can sit comfortably. But if one wants to eat separately, here are three other room to eat in. The food is amazingly good and is freshly prepared for each order. Pride of place goes to a delicious cheese and vegetable bake that was so good that the chef was persuaded to bring out the recipe. The gammon was also very tasty and came with and absolutely huge selection of vegetables, some on the plate and some in a separate dish. After that we couldn’t eat any of the traditional puddings on offer but had a gorgeous piece of millionaires shortbread and very good coffee (expresso of course). There are jams and other foodstuffs to buy and take away, and more in the excellent shop in the stables, but the cafe stole the show and can be highly recommended.

This is beautiful! The walled garden or should I say two walled gardens are stunning especially the rose garden when it is in full bloom… The house is amazing and in one room you can see where the old priory walls/arches have been left for all to see. I would have loved to see this in it’s hay day. There is a lovely cafe set in the original kitchens and you can see the amazing range where they would have done the cooking, it would have been nice for them to recreate the kitchens especially with those beautiful ranges hidden with the counters of the cafe. There is a lovely second hand bookshop near the cafe too - donations of books welcome. The grounds are beautiful and there is a little shuttle bus to and from the reception and the gardens and abbey…

Absolutely beautiful house and grounds. Can easily spend an afternoon here. Inside the house, can only see around the ground floor, but the rooms are in beautiful conditions. There are extensive grounds to see around, including a walled garden.

Obviously there’s also a cafe and gift shop with the same sort of things that you find at most national trust sites. Only small moan is that when you go round the house there are always guides standing there staring at you which can be a little off putting but I suppose they are necessary.

Overall, I had a fantastic day there and could have spent longer had the weather been better.