Hall Place

HOLEEE SHIT you guys. I'm in England again!

Why?

Because potato!

Also I moved here.

AAAANYWAY,

Today I went on a field trip! Down to Hall Place, in Bexley.

Yeeeeah. Check this shit out! All fancy, right?

This was, I think, the primary entrance to the house. But because of things, it now faces a major roadway, so we all go in the back door. (Heh. Back door.)

The original house (which is what you're seeing here; it extends quite far in the back) was built in 1540, by a dude with a lot of money. He reused a lot of stones from a nearby abbey ruin, and you can see bits a piece of it still (like old monastic tilework, and some gargoyle faces; there's not much though).

I like taking pictures of windows. It may be a problem.

After a while, it was sold again, to one Sir Austen (not THAT family of Austens).

He took one look at this shabby old dump and said: "NOPE! I'mma double this shiat!"

And proceeded to build a wing onto the house, that pretty much doubled it's size.

He also didn't give a whole lot of thought to the whole 'making the styles harmonious', and just built whatever the fuck he wanted.

He (or one of his lineage who lived in the place) also installed (I believe) this 'fine plaster ceiling' in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Take a look:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!11!11!

Or if that one isn't letting you sleep, there's one of these in each corner:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!1!11

Seriously. I don't know how anyone could sleep in this room. I can only assume there were canopy beds with monster proof curtains.

Nnnnggg. Picture of a window through a window. The best.

Be warned, though. If you come here, it's apparently a pretty popular venue for weddings and special 

events, and when something comes in, they close off the feast hall, the minstrel gallery, and the old Tudor kitchen. 

We did not get to see the Tudor kitchen, but we did see a bit of the feast hall and the minstrel gallery.

Also, if you come, try to hit it in summer when all the flowers are blooming. The gardens are quite lovely, but the flowers were well on their way out (since it is now October, and well and truly autumn). 

HOWEVER!

Check these guys out:

A mere umbrella away from Totoro.

These are the best topiaries, in my opinion, but there were quite a few more. And they're BIG. Well taller than I.

So this house got sold and inherited down the line for a long time, until the early 20th century, when Lady Limerick came to live here.

I'm not even shitting you. That was her name.

DIGNITY. ALWAYS DIGNITY.

She was apparently quite loved by the village, and also a little on the batty side.

DISCLAIMER: Not actually Henry Vlll. Or his court ladies.

 Later on in her life, the house (which actually belonged to her son? her nephew? I can't remember) got sold (I think) to the local council, with the understanding that she could live out her days there.

Well! Lady Limerick didn't like that very much, and apparently went on a letter writing feud with the council. The council couldn't kick her out, and she didn't have anywhere else to go, so she lived there until she died.

As a final middle finger to the council, she stated in her will that every goddamned stick of furniture in the place was to be auctioned off, and the proceeds to go to a church she liked. 

Which happened. And the council received nothing but the shell of a house.

Later on, it was used as a boys school, a girls school, and during WW2, an American communications centre (which, apparently, the local men didn't like at all, because the American GI's were all "over paid, over sexed, and over here").

Those bits are all boring though.

What IS interesting, is there are quite a few displays on things found in and around the grounds, including some Roman and Norse artifacts (brooches! glass vessels! pottery!), and arrowheads and stone axes and things. This place was apparently quite a popular place to live and/or die.

And that's all from me, folks.

Hall Place. Check it out.