When you enter the village of Brockhampton, just a few meters from the road is a huge country house, looking for all the world just as it did when it was lived in by one family. This isn’t the case today.

This part of England is dotted with houses of this kind, almost all of which have to find ways to survive in a world where a house with 4 times more servants than residents is a difficult one to justify or maintain.

The Building of Brockhampton Park was started in about 1640, by Paul Pert, a close financial advisor to Charles the first. He died a few years later and it passed to his niece, Anne Skipwith. Over the centuries ownership of this great place changed many times until, in the mid 19tth century it passed to the Craven family. They enlarged the house substantially over the next two generations and created the house and gardens you see today.

Back to the western edge of the village where we caught sight of something really unexpected. There, on the drive to a farm, stood a small herd of elephants. At first sight they looked completely real and we thought we should be careful with the drone. A herd of stampeding elephants in Gloucerstershire would have been embarrassing. However they turned out to be made of wood. We aren’t quite sure what these beautiful creatures are, or for or how long they will be there, but they are amazing. There were even a couple of life-sized camels in the barn. One leaning slightly drunkenly with crossed legs against the wall.

At the other end of the estate a little lane leads down to the village. This sleepy little place is extremely quiet and the roads are narrow and bendy, but if your’e walking it’s certainly worth the effort. There is a small set of buildings which used to be a brewery.