The Present Day
The House and the 400-acre (1.6 km2) grounds are seasonally open to the public. The Hall is filled with fine paintings, ceramics and antique furniture. The Great Hall is adorned with stunning Baroque plasterwork by James Gibbs and the Red Saloon remains exactly as it was decorated and furnished by James Wyatt in 1780.
The Gardens provide colour and interest throughout the year with a Winter Garden, Spring Bulb Bank and contemporary Rose Garden among the highlights. The Woodland Walk takes you around the park and provides stunning views of the Countryside and there is also an adventure playground for children which is beautifully blended into its current surroundings.
Ragley is the site of the Jerwood Sculpture Park, opened in July 2004. The Park includes works that won the Jerwood Sculpture Prizes, and the work of Dame Elizabeth Frink, among others. In 1969 the 8th Marques of Hertford commissioned the artist Graham Rust to decorate the South Staircase Hall with murals, showing "The Temptation of Christ" and members of the family on an illusionary gallery.
Ragley also hosts Weddings, Corporate Functions and Outdoor Events and in 2010 hosted the CLA Game Fair the world's largest countryside event held by the Country Land and Business Association.
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Famous quotes containing the words present day, present and/or day:
“The East knew and to the present day knows only that One is Free; the Greek and the Roman world, that some are free; the German World knows that All are free. The first political form therefore which we observe in History, is Despotism, the second Democracy and Aristocracy, the third, Monarchy.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“For the first time in the history of mankind, one generation literally has the power to destroy the past, the present and the future, the power to bring time to an end.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“We made a day of it out of the world,
Ascending to descend to reascend.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)