Packwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Packwood is a hamlet within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands.
The locality's main interest is Packwood House (not to confused with Packwood Hall which is a private residence and NOT open to the public). This is a stately timber-framed Tudor home owned by the National Trust. It has a wealth of tapestries and fine furniture, but is most famous for its yew garden (topiary) in which the clipped trees are said to represent the Sermon on the Mount.
Packwood House lies between Darley Green (outside Knowle), Lapworth and Hockley Heath and is open to visitors for several months of the year. There are wonderful gardens and walks that the public can access without paying to enter the house or grounds themselves. For example, Packwood Avenue, a straight avenue, mainly of oaks, with some chestnut and beech, two-thirds of a mile (1 km) long and ending at the front entrance of Packwood House is a great walk.
Near Packwood House stands St Giles', an ancient church with one of England's rare extant Doomsday Walls. Painted on either side of the aisle before the altar, this depicts on the lefthand side the rich (taller, well dressed individuals) and the poor (shorter, starving people). However on the righthand side all these people are shown after death: here they appear as skeletons - all of the same height - demonstrating that all are the same in Death and in the eyes of God.
