National Trust - Prior Park Landscape Garden — Attraction in Bath

Walked into this place after paying a hefty entrance fee, and immediately headed in the direction of the signposted "Site of Gothic Temple", as any self respecting adventurer/archeologist/tomb plunderer would.

As I began to step towards the winding downward trial, an inexplicably loud rumbling noise grew behind me. I spun around, and was faced with a huge seventeen foot wide stone boulder approaching me at high speed, presumably contrived of Bath's famed locally sourced slightly yellowy tinged oolitic limestone, and immediately turned on the spot, and broke into a full sprint.

Carnage and chaos erupted in my wake, but I dared not look back for even a second- amidst the myriad screams of unwitting families out for a mere gentle mid-day stroll, their frail bones crunching underneath the several tons of spherical limestone, I could feel the tremor of the earth becoming increasingly violent- the boulder was gaining on me.

Almost losing my balance on the steep 1/6 incline (a roughly twenty three degree offset from normal ground level), I frantically fumbled in my pocket for the printed map of Prior Park, nationally entrusted to me by the National Trust gatekeeper and/or greeter at the entrance ticket booth, and plotted a frenzied course through the labyrinthian pedestrian footpaths and forest enshrouded walkways of the garden- ultimately arriving at "The Tea Shed" on the lower banks of the man made lake, my seemingly sole chance of salvation against my mineral laden assailant.

As I reached the bottom of the trail, the ground levelled out, and bore a straight, well maintained, aesthetically pleasing footpath leading directly to my destination- of which I was immediately skeptical of. Such an abrupt change of pathway maintenance levels could mean only one thing; the pathway was merely a facade for a long, pressure-activated trapdoor, dropping down into a pit of live snakes, and poison-tipped punji sticks- in addition to molten lava.

The boulder mere inches behind me now, I had no choice but to continue my desperate escape- as I placed my foot across the facades threshold, the trap door swung open, snakes hissing, lava boiling, poison-tipped punji sticks poison-tipped punji sticking, and I tumbled headlong into the pit.

I fell for what seemed like hours, but looking back at it now was probably closer to several hundred milliseconds, before remembering the whip that I had been holding in my hands for this entire ordeal and totally didn't just make up right this second, and cracked it around an overhanging tree branch, and triumphantly swung clear through and out of the death pit, landing in a stylish slide which carried me right under the almost closed stone temple doors, that began slowly closing earlier whilst I was looking for a parking space, or something.

I then walked up to the counter of The Drink Shack or whatever it was called, and ordered a scone and pepsi max, but when the scone arrived it came with neither cream nor butter, as they had apparently ran out of both...

This is another amazing National Trust managed place to look around.....It's set in a lovely hillside valley overlooking the City of Bath...The park was first laid out for the Bishop John of Tours as a deer park in the 1100.....Then wealthy business man Richard Allen who made he's riches from organising the then postal service in the City of Bath and the local stone quarries from which most of the City is built from ,the stone was also used to construct and build he's mansion plus the other architectural features including the Palladian Bridge, which is only one of four remaining of its kind in the world....In 1734 Richard Allen commissioned Capability Brown and Alexander Pope to design and build these lovely picturesque gardens in the 18th century....A man named Richard Jones was responsible for the design and build of the Palladian Bridge which is the main iconic feature of the gardens....The mansion House overlooking the park is now the Priory park College......This is a great place to visit but there is no onsite parking,we were lucky to find a space in the housing estate close to the park.... Lots of people come by bus from the City of Bath, as there are bus stops outside the entrance to the park itself.....It can be quite a challenging place to look around as it is set in a steep valley with several hilly paths to negotiate but well worth the effort to see the amazing views across the park and gardens with the City of Bath in the distance..... There are refreshments and toilets in the...

I visited this area today, it's Autumn and I have to say it was not as I expected. The buildings in the pictures stand grand over this park. They are impressive from a distance.

Staff from the national trust I met were very polite and helpful

The valley rolls down to the lakes with an ornate bridge. The bridge is beautiful against the landscape and lakes. The paths down wind through the trees and shrubs. The Pasteur down the valley is grassland, so it gives a clear view to the bridge, lakes and Bath.

It's beautiful in its own way. It's not breathtaking. The paths reaching across the skyline walk are more breathtaking as to seeing over Bath.

There accessibility is difficult as the paths are not very easy and some fairly steep. In some areas not suitable for prams.

Limited viewing/ access for people in wheelchairs and disabled/ medical conditions.

Playground was closed, even that was really lacking. No real play area for children. Just wooden shapes.

Other areas I have visited have wonderful play areas. Space maybe a problem and steepness of site. This can be overcome with careful consideration for the landscape.

Cafe, yes that was there and limited seating. Relaxing area with water cascading down to one side of this area.

Seating in varied areas across site.

I love the countryside, I believe it's great to have so many areas to visit.

This area needs more for the family in my opinion.

Parking is almost non existent.

Enjoy the photos and please enjoy are...