A Day Out

Gainsborough Old Hall

Today a couple of my coffee morning pals whisked me off to Gainsborough, with the intent purpose of visiting the Old Hall, the last remaining medieval building in an unremarkable town.  This huge, imposing manor house sits incongruously in the middle of a residential area.

the grand hall

My friends insisted on having an audio guided tour which actually worked very well after I finally managed to figure out how to operate the gadget and turn the volume to high.  Unfortunately the battery ran out half way round.

It is an impressive medieval manor house built by Thomas Burgh in 1455. It had two royal visits, Richard III  in 1483 and Henry VIII, together with his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, in 1541. Gifted to the nation in 1970 the hall is now owned by English Heritage and the local district council.  Some of the props and costumes looked a bit cheap and amateurish, it would have been nice to see some furnishings that looked a bit more authentic.  But the medieval architecture was stunning.

medieval kitchen

So many old buildings have ghost stories attached to them and Gainsborough Old Hall is no exception.

Local legend says the Grey Lady is thought to be the daughter of the Lord of the Manor who fell in love with a poor soldier and planned to elope with him. Her father discovered the plan, locked her away in the tower where she died from a broken heart. Supposedly the girl’s spirit still wanders the tower and the corridor endlessly waiting for her lover to arrive.

I didn’t see the Grey Lady but the stuffed wild boar in the kitchen was a bit disturbing.