Times Where Was I

[hazelcat]

Struggling with this weeks puzzle. Wondered if the Palladian country house might be Gorhambury House, but this hasn’t been divided into flats, so must now discard that venue. Would appreciate any further clues, please.
Thank you

[Neveracrossword]

I think it might be better to give a link or details of the little story - not everyone on AB will have a copy.

[Etch]

“Shut up!” I yelped. “You’ve got a spreadsheet?” Friend nodded. “There’s so much to see in this county, the only way is to be organised,” he noted, before explaining why we were starting at a school. It was the alma mater of a politician who was, until recently, rather prominent.
“I wonder how taxing he found his studies?” I asked. “Lord knows,” said Friend. “So maybe you should ask him.”
We drove to the next stop: the centre of a commuter town, 1½ miles southwest of the school. On its High Street, a ruined 13th-century chapel attests to its role as a pilgrims’ halt, on a route to a cathedral 41 miles southeast.
Clearly it was a pious place, but there was a time when the locals were revolting too. “Serfs the authorities right for imposing such a stupid levy,” noted Friend, before driving me to a Palladian country house nearly two miles southeast.
Now divided into flats, its predecessor was visited by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1669. He wasn’t impressed by the pastries. “Grossly made . . . and badly baked,” Friend read from the account of his tour. Then he told me to get my hands off his vegetable pasty. “If you’re hungry, I know just the place,” he said, and drove to a second town, four miles northeast of the mansion.
Given its former fictional television resident, it made perfect sense. “Your bhuna looks nice,” I said, as we left the takeaway. “Can we share?” Friend shot me a cold, hard look. “Oh come on, think of it as a friendship tax,” I told him. “Forget it,” spat Friend. But he did give me some of his sag aloo.

1 What is the name of the Palladian country house?
2 What is the name of the second town?

To get you started, the politician is Philip Hammond and the cathedral is Canterbury

[zebo]

I couldn't get Philip Hammond, I took a guess at Canterbury then used the distance measurer on google maps. It was interesting, I never thought of Canterbury pilgrims being north of London!

[TedUB55AW]

https://youtu.be/Xaq4nN2QwEI