Bank holiday Monday
Today we have a bank holiday to make up for New Year's Day falling on a Sunday. Unlike Christmas Day almost everything is open during this bank holiday weekend in England - although some things have shortened opening hours. As it was a nicer day than it has been recently, we decided to go out. There is a Tudor house we've not visited before even though it's only a half-hour drive away, so today we visited Ightham Mote a medieval moated manor house which has survived for over 700 years.
Under the cut for some photos.
The oldest part of the house was built around 700 years ago and the footprint has remained fairly consistent throughout all the owners. Each successive owner has made alternations and additions (mostly during the late 15th, 16th and 17th centuries). A moat surrounds all four wings of the house, which in turn is built around an open courtyard.
There are three courtyards within the manor house. This is the main one as you enter and was built to impress.
This is the oldest part of the manor built in the 1340s but the house's history begins in the 1360s as there are records of the Cawnes family living there.
A close-up of the hand-stitched linen wall covering which must have been very impressive when new!
The Great Hall dressed for Christmas. I loved the oak panelling and the Tudor portraits. The woman on the right is Dorothy Bonham (1572-1641) who married William Selby (who inherited the manor house).
Through the little window (behind the Christmas tree) at the back is the adjoining chapel of the manor house. The priest would stand in the window in the chapel and people would take the sacrament while standing in the main room of the photo (The Solar).
These little roundels are a later edition and show the coats of arms of the various Kings of England.
Outside there are extensive gardens and a rather nice pond with a duck house in the middle.
The last owner was an American businessman called Charles Henry Robinson who owned the manor from 1953 until his death in 1985 at the age of 91. He left the manor to the National Trust and they have maintained it ever since (at a cost of over ten million pounds!).
As Ightham Mote is one of the few historic buildings/gardens open today it was really busy, so I'm glad we went at around 11am when it opened. We had a light lunch at the very on-site nice restaurant (we had to queue for 35 minutes but it was worth it!). There were lots of families there, but it wasn't too busy in the house so we were able to chat with the guides in each of the rooms. You always learn a lot from the guides!
We got back around 2pm - it was a fun outing and we have decided to revisit in the summer as there are a lot of lovely plants in the gardens which will be worth seeing when they are blooming!
We have no further plans for today and everything is starting to get back to normal from tomorrow as Mr Cee will be back at work and some of our exercise classes start up again. It's been a good Christmas break but it will be nice to be back to some kind of routine :)
Today's question is: 2 - World Introvert Day: Do you consider yourself an introvert, an extrovert, or something in between?
I think most people are something in between? I know I am - I like being sociable and I really, really missed seeing people during the C19 lockdowns, but I also like being on my own.
Under the cut for some photos.
The oldest part of the house was built around 700 years ago and the footprint has remained fairly consistent throughout all the owners. Each successive owner has made alternations and additions (mostly during the late 15th, 16th and 17th centuries). A moat surrounds all four wings of the house, which in turn is built around an open courtyard.
There are three courtyards within the manor house. This is the main one as you enter and was built to impress.
This is the oldest part of the manor built in the 1340s but the house's history begins in the 1360s as there are records of the Cawnes family living there.
A close-up of the hand-stitched linen wall covering which must have been very impressive when new!
The Great Hall dressed for Christmas. I loved the oak panelling and the Tudor portraits. The woman on the right is Dorothy Bonham (1572-1641) who married William Selby (who inherited the manor house).
Through the little window (behind the Christmas tree) at the back is the adjoining chapel of the manor house. The priest would stand in the window in the chapel and people would take the sacrament while standing in the main room of the photo (The Solar).
These little roundels are a later edition and show the coats of arms of the various Kings of England.
Outside there are extensive gardens and a rather nice pond with a duck house in the middle.
The last owner was an American businessman called Charles Henry Robinson who owned the manor from 1953 until his death in 1985 at the age of 91. He left the manor to the National Trust and they have maintained it ever since (at a cost of over ten million pounds!).
As Ightham Mote is one of the few historic buildings/gardens open today it was really busy, so I'm glad we went at around 11am when it opened. We had a light lunch at the very on-site nice restaurant (we had to queue for 35 minutes but it was worth it!). There were lots of families there, but it wasn't too busy in the house so we were able to chat with the guides in each of the rooms. You always learn a lot from the guides!
We got back around 2pm - it was a fun outing and we have decided to revisit in the summer as there are a lot of lovely plants in the gardens which will be worth seeing when they are blooming!
We have no further plans for today and everything is starting to get back to normal from tomorrow as Mr Cee will be back at work and some of our exercise classes start up again. It's been a good Christmas break but it will be nice to be back to some kind of routine :)
Today's question is: 2 - World Introvert Day: Do you consider yourself an introvert, an extrovert, or something in between?
I think most people are something in between? I know I am - I like being sociable and I really, really missed seeing people during the C19 lockdowns, but I also like being on my own.