Syon House is fascinating. According to legend, there was a curse that dogs should lick the blood of Henry VIII according to a Friar of the time. And indeed, that apparently happened - when Henry's coffin rested there on its way to burial at Windsor, blood seeped from his coffin and was lapped up by the dogs there.
It is one of the jewels of that area - I have been to many lovely events there including a couple of weddings, wonderful walks through the grounds and woods, and of course the lovely rose garden, not to mention the (rather expensive) garden centre. But I miss the butterfly house, that was truly fantastic. |