At only 30 minutes from us is the beautiful Rufford Old Hall, part of National Trust. Alongside Little Moreton Hall and Speke Hall is the 3rd charming Tudor building in this area. I think Tudor buildings are my favourite. The black old timber frames and beams, quirky and crooked with white paint makes them beautiful.
There are guided tours for the house and for the gardens too. As it was weekday and we didn’t have a lot of time we decided to skip them. We’ll go back to take the tours when we have more time.
That is me, but the cute girl is not ours.
The old hall is superb, built in the 1500s by a Christian family. In the time of the dissolution, being Christian was not the easiest thing. On a wooden panel near the ceiling there is a religious motif, but is not easy to see it from the Hall. There are other motifs that can be religious, but the meaning is not known.
In the Hall there were two lovely ladies dressed in medieval clothing (this made me reconsider signing up as a volunteer) and a wool spinner. We had a very interesting chat with her about the wool and she showed us samples of different types of fleeces, like sheep, camel, silk and corn. I had no idea corn can be used for clothing.
She said is not eco friendly and she prefers the others, including silk. I obviously can’t agree with her about the silk. It made me curious and I had a look online. It seems that maize is more eco-friendly than polyester to produce. If you are watching Countryfile is likely you already know that this crop is not the favorable for the health of the soil.
We were not allowed to take pictures of the house, beside the Hall as there are work of art protected by copyright. There are beautiful embroideries and paintings of flowers. It was lovely to see them.
Outside there is a garden and a picnic area and a woodland walk.
I like the way the pear tree is shaped, the one on the right. It’s so easy to take the fruits from the tree and it looks so pretty.
This was my first visit to Rufford Old Hall, a very interesting place. Is possible Shakespeare was here as a teenager. Also the history of the place is very interesting. Another interesting story is that the last owner wanted to sell the house, but he received a low offer, so he decided that instead of selling it, he will give it to National Trust. I will take the tour someday and I will tell you more about the house.
I love those windows and the black on white wood Tudor timbers! Looks a truly amazing place to visit.Do you know, I’ve never been to Liverpool!x
You should come to Liverpool, it’s such a wonderful city. Maybe we can meet, that would be great x
We have a few places like this near us. They’re always so much fun to visit 🙂
Corinne x
Yes, they are fun. We are lucky with all this places 🙂