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.