Please join us for our first overnight trip since Covid to a fairytale English country house privately owned, lived in, and loved by the same family for nine hundred years. We stay overnight in the famed five-star Peacock at Rowsley.
Haddon Hall may be the most romantic of all English country houses. Carefully situated on a cliff above the river Wye, it seems to emerge from the monumental rock on which it sits. Rugged in its outline, piecemeal yet somehow composed, no matter which angle you choose for your view, you see the archetype of picturesque Englishness.
Suggesting a castle and a college as well as a great house, Haddon speaks to us of the fascinating, often turbulent, history it has witnessed from the 11c Norman Conquest to the gentler period of 17c Jacobean domestic life. A manor rather than a fortification, it was nevertheless granted a license to crenellate in 1194, and its gently defensive appearance has given it a sense of insularity ever since.
Erected by the Vernon family through the Middle Ages, the Great Hall was built in 1370, the Chapel with its frescoes in the following century, and further chambers and ranges of rooms were added by successive generations as need arose. The guiding principles in its evolution have been firmly rooted in Nature, that is, as a building Haddon answers to and binds to its glorious site, and, as a building Haddon Hall has adapted organically to the expansion of family and staff through the centuries.
In the early 18c, hugely to Haddon’s advantage, the 9th Earl and First Duke of Rutland chose to live at Belvoir Castle in Rutland, and the house has been almost untouched since. Because it has not been assaulted by Victorian restorers, Haddon teaches us how such medieval houses functioned. It allows keen insight into the lives of her earliest inhabitants. We will learn to ‘read’ the house understanding it as a record of the contributions of generations upon generations of the high and the low, the mighty and the humble.
Building on a sloping site, its early owners hid themselves behind a mighty 12c wall. Over the following four centuries they added required rooms against that wall. A glorious 14c hall with its attendant kitchen, buttery, and pantry, divide the great walled courtyard in two. The entrance arch (see below) is so squeezed against a range of rooms that one third of it seems to disappear. We can see brackets desperately trying to hold the together as ad hoc windows crash into one another. Yet the intrepid builders achieved something that has stood for nearly a thousand years and counting!
As we enter the first courtyard, we will feel under our feet the building’s response to the site as the entrance courtyard slopes gently up towards the hall. The extraordinary chapel curiously cants to one side as if refusing to be tamed by rectangularity as it tries to orient itself east-west. Another collegiate-style court awaits when we pass by the Great Hall and through the screens passage, separating hall and kitchens, into a second courtyard as irregular as the first and dominated by the beautiful bay window of the State Bedroom. Despite that formal name, nothing about Haddon is about grandeur or enforced symmetry. It speaks to growth as something organic, a response to human need. There is about it a humanity of scale and a warmth of materials from tapestries to the stone itself which together over centuries have provided a friendly and secure environment for family and friends. We will try to imbibe that rare air during our visit.
Inside, ancient oak panelling, rubbed furniture and delicately faded textiles soften the stone floors. Built before the invention of corridors, rooms open from one to another providing a flow of architectural and decorative experiences.
The garden facade, stepping down the hill with its nooks and crannies, provides a verdant relief and support for rambling roses, clematis, and sundry other vines. We may see that the Long Gallery’s irregularly angled panes of glass flash reflections for the delight of those on the Elizabethan terraces beneath.
All in all, Haddon is a house that tugs at the heartstrings. By kind permission of Lord and Lady Edward Manners, we have been given the privilege of over two days private in-depth tours of the house, its rooms and its gardens, and a gentle wander led by a head gardener among the glorious ancient trees of the medieval park.
We stay in the five-star The Peacock at Rowsley, just nearby, nationally renowned for the comfort and beauty of its country house decorating and furnishings, and the over-all excellence of its locally sourced fresh food and seasonally inspired menus. Do join us if you possibly can for a truly special garden and house!
Please note that as Haddon Hall is such a historic site surfaces can be uneven with slopes and steps. There is an inviting gentle 15-minute walk over the Wye River on an ancient bridge to the Hall from the Car Park. The Hall states on its website that it should be manageable for anyone who walks with a stick or a frame. If you have mobility difficulties please would you inform Henrietta when you book? Please contact Henrietta with any accessibility questions: 07940 719397 or henrietta@inscapetours.co.uk
COST: £628 including tuition, taxis throughout, all private guided tours in Haddon Hall and Gardens, private refreshments in Gardener’s Cottage, one night’s accommodation in superior double room, with breakfast, two lunches, dinner with wine, service and VAT. (Single Room Supplement £164). Numbers limited to twelve. For Terms and Conditions please see our website inscapetours.co.uk.
Booking Information:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
This private tour ‘The Magic of Haddon Hall’ has been developed by Louise Friend and will be presented by Nicholas Friend.Cheques are not a viable option at this time. Instead, please make your payment to Friend&Friend Ltd by bank transfer to our account with Metrobank, bank sort code 23-05-80, account number 13291721 or via PayPal to nicholas@inscapetours.co.uk, or credit/debit card by phone to Henrietta on 07940 719 397. She is available Tuesdays 2-5 pm or Thursdays 2-5 pm.
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