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| Visit to Werribee Park | | 22-01-10 | | |  Werribee Park Mansion built in the 1870’s by the Chirnside Family, located in Werribee.
After our wonderful day out to the Johnston Collection (see Latest News Article – The Johnston Collection) and with our connection to Werribee Park, (Rhonda’s husband works at Werribee Park) we decided that a day out to our local Historical Mansion was long overdue. With our picnic lunch packed, Rhonda, Greg, Briony, Anne, Mary and I set off on the short drive to the Park.
The entry into the Park is through the original wrought iron gates into the Gate Lodge. Map in hand and off we went; free to walk around the grounds and mansion at our leisure but with a slight twist. Greg on his day off came along as our personal guide, as we journeyed through the Mansion taking in all the history, antiques and ambiance.
We admired a bygone era located at our back door, enjoying the beautifully restored rooms and entering the separate laundry where my mother, Mary reminisced over the old copper, she remembers doing the washing in our outside laundry, back when we lived in our old farm house 30 years ago.
We found a shady tree to sit under to rest with the mansion as our backdrop and enjoy our picnic lunch of home cooked goodies and cup of tea.
Once again ready to set off for a gentle stroll through the 10 hectares of gardens (admittedly we didn’t exactly walk around the entire 10 hectares!!), we set off towards the Lake with Anne and I collecting pine cones as if we were young girls getting more and more excited as we found different varieties, sizes and ways we could incorporate them into our crafts.
We come upon the Island Grotto built in 1877, a man made cave/dome and is decorated with shells gathered from the Chirnside’s family holiday home at Point Cook. Abalone and mussel shells form patterns in rings on the dome, smaller shells mark the year it was built and initials of the Chirnside’s. Pinecones, seed pods and bark add to the decoration together with the floor that is adorned in shells and sheep bones. The Chirnside’s would relax in the Grotto to escape the warmer weather and would be served light refreshments by the butler. Originally you would pass the Grotto and manmade lake on your way up to the mansion. Mostly the lake would sit empty, but to impress the important guests, the gardeners would cart water from the Werribee River to fill the lake.
We ended our day out by visiting the gift shop and stopping for a coffee at the cafe, sitting in the sunshine, reminiscing about our day and the life lived by the Chirnside’s and the tragedy that befall them, but that’s another story and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.
If you would like to find out more about –
Werribee Park – www.werribeepark.com.au
Shadowfax Winery – www.shadowfax.com.au
Sofitel Werribee Park Mansion Hotel & Spa – www.mansionhotel.com.au
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