Monday 5 August 2013

National Trust #9:Little Moreton Hall

On my way home from Manchester last week I stopped off in Cheshire to see this black and white Tudor Hall. The home of the Moreton family from the 1500s until the 17thcent when their fortunes changed. It now belongs to the National Trust.



When
this building went up, glass could only be made in small pieces and was held together with lead, hence the decorative windows.












They have dated these wall paintings between 1563 -1598. After that oak panelling was fitted around the walls. The paintings were discovered in 1976 when an electrician was rewiring the building.







This is Queen Elizabeth I's court of arms over the fire, to show they were royalists when the civil war began in 1642.



An example of how the roof was made from gritstone slates making it very heavy.




This is how the windows were made.
 





This is the Garderobe, very much a status symbol of the times. They would probably have had soft wool instead of leaves or moss as the Tudor equivalent of toilet paper.



The long gallery used for dancing or indoor games.




The knot garden





The chapel





The hall is surrounded by a moat.

Sharing with 'Our World Tuesday'

24 comments:

  1. Such intriguing patterns on the mansion … so grand and such a treasure even the owners could not afford eventually. And what a stroke of luck that the paintings were discovered by the electrician!

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  2. Thank you for this wonderful post. I love to see these old wooden based buildings that time has warped and moulded, yet still they stand firm as a testament to great craftsmanship.
    Those bay windows and the long hall are to die for. It feels like thre should be a resident ghost there after all the centuries of use. Really great post.

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  3. Thanks for the nice tour of the Tudor Hall. The windows and the garden and the awesome fireplace are my favorite parts of the Hall. Wonderful post and photos.

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  4. Great place!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  5. What a wonderful building though whoever laid the slates out has done it wrong, they have been overlapped wrong and would leak. Find it quite amazing the building has lasted so well.

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  6. Beautiful place and a terrific tour!! Love those windows and the pattern on the walls! Fascinating! Terrific captures/post for the day!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  7. Great photos of an amazing building. So many bright colors and decorations!

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  8. Thanks for the great tour! I would just love to visit a place like this! Great shots!

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  9. What an amazing and fascinating old building. How ckever the builders were to create such a place without modern technology. I can only begin to imagine a house as old as that.

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  10. The black and white exterior is riveting. Can't imagine how it has stood for so long.

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  11. Looks strong enough for many more years.
    Cool reflection shot.

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  12. That is a truly amazing house, well worth preserving. And you got excellent shots of it. Scenes like this make me want to move back to England, or at least have a very long visit.

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  13. Imagine it's still standing after all these years ... I love the aged window glass and that glorious knot garden. Very British.

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  14. It's stunning. The intricate windows are mesmerizing. Can you imagine how long it took to make all of the windows? As for the toilet paper - I'm very pleased to have this modern luxury!

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  15. I've never seen such an ornate black & white Tudor pattern before! All it needs is a touch of RED to liven it up!!

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  16. Classic looking NT property (National Trust, not Northern Territory!)

    Feel free to take a trip to Wells and take some pictures so I can see some I recognise!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  17. Gorgeous, stunning I could go on and on!!

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  18. Fantastic! I have seen this amazing place from the outside. Wonderful to see the interior. Super collection!

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  19. Great tour! You are great at capturing details I probably wouldn't see as well if I were there in person (wish I could check that theory out though).

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  20. interesting building indeed. Lots of things to study.

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  21. it is such a long time since we visited Little Moreton Hall - thanks for the reminder

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  22. What a beautiful architecture ! I didn't know that you had been in Manchester !

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