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A Park Walk and an Old House Tour (5/23/25)

In looking up sites to visit in our current area, I had found Bramall Hall and Park, about a 40 minute walk from the house. The grounds are always open, but the house can only be toured Thursday through Sunday (6.5 pound/person entry). We decided to visit the house today.

We were able to take our usual neighborhood trail, continue onto the bridle trail we walked the other day, and then continue a bit further on the trail to reach the park and house. It was a good day for a walk, as the temps were in the low 60s F, and it may be the last non-rainy day for about a week.

Part of the tree lined path

Bramhall Park (for some reason the name of the park has an h but the hall/house does not) is 51 acres and has a range of habitats, including formal parkland, woodland, and open grassland, through all of which runs Lady Brook, flanked by several ponds.

One of the ponds in Bramhall Park
Another pond

Bramall Hall is described as one of England’s finest timber framed buildings. It was built around 1370 as a single story medieval hall by Alice and John de Davenport, and by the 1600s it had become one of the largest homes in the area. It remained in the family for over 500 years. In 1883, Charles and Mary Nevill moved into the house when it was given to them as a wedding present by Charles’ father, the wealthy owner of Strines Print Works in nearby Stockport.

Happily for the good of the house, the roof is being refurbished. Unhappily for us, we didn’t get the best outside view of the house.

The scaffolded Bramall Hall
We watched a short film about the house
in the shop where we bought the tickets,
which provided a non-scaffolded view of the house
The wicket door (small one) in what is currently the great hall,
but which would have originally been used
to control entry into the home by allowing
for the identity of unexpected callers to be checked
and then requiring visitors to enter one at a time
in a crouched position.
The banqueting room
The chapel
The figure of Christ appears on the wall of the chapel
in between text for the 10 Commandments.
It won’t be the last instructional wall art
that we’ll see in the home.
The solar room with its Tudor wall paintings,
used in imitation of tapestry and dated to the 1530s.
A closer look at the paintings,
which were both decorative and filled with moral messages.
Bob in the Nevill room, so called as the Neville’s made a significant number of changes to this room when they moved in.
A section of the wall showing the typical construction method
up until the mid-16th century , wattle (interlaced branches)
and daub (a clay mixture).
A table carpet (tablecloth) probably commissioned
in 1560 by William Davenport III
for the high table used in the great hall.
The withdrawing room, not for obtaining money or being alone, but where the family and guests
would withdraw to following dinner.
The plaster ceiling was a mark of wealth
in the Elizabethan age (late 1500s).
Mary Neville’s boudoir, on the American 3rd floor/
UK 2nd floor of the house
The master bedroom
The great lawn in the back of the house

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