Saturday 19 May 2012

Gainsborough Old Hall interiors (part 1)

 Here are some of the photos I took at Gainsborough Old Hall.  These show the Great Hall, decorated to give an idea of how it may have looked in medieval times.  King Henry VIII and Catherine Howard must have eaten in here, John Wesley preached here and the Hall was used as a theatre too, so actors will have performed here.

 The servery, leading into the kitchen, which  is one of the best preserved kitchens of its time in the UK.  It has three cooking areas - one for meat roasting on spits, one for cooking pottage and other pot-based food and the bread and pastry ovens at the back.
 In the background, you can see the huge fireplace for the pot cooking.
 A view back out of the kitchen, showing the servery with a brick archway visible above the servery window.
 The wonderful kitchen roof beams, with the Victorian louvre to let out the smoke and steam.
The solar - an expensively furnished room with wall hangings and hand made wooden furniture.  The wall hanging pattern is taken from one in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and all the furniture designs were taken from paintings or from furniture that is still in existence in other museums.
 The rather comfortable looking bed with curtains to keep out the cold.

This is the 'ghost corridor', where the 'Grey Lady' is supposed to appear. She walks down the corridor and turns right, through what was once a solid wall. However, during restoration, the wall was taken down to reveal a blocked in door, precisely where she turned...

 ...and here it is.
Here is a close up of the old paint which is still visible on the timbers of the wall and door.  The final few photos will be in my next post.

4 comments:

  1. Ohh I would certainly love to visit this place one day, I've read about it but never been there. Tudor England is one of my favourite periods in history.
    Great shots!

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  2. Dear Aledys
    Thank you for your kind comments. I have had a busy few days and have lots of things to post about, including a few more photos from my visit to the Old Hall. I'll get it all done over this next week. Oh, and it's Chelsea Flower Show too, which even though I have not visited, I still really enjoy the coverage on TV and internet. Lots to do, so little time!
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  3. Hi Ellie Foster thanks for your amazing and useful post. The ghost corridor looks really horrible! I really like to go there but yet can't go! Any way thanks for reminding me of this place.
    Laura@ a meticulous white bedroom furniture shop.

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