Haddon Hall

Visiting Haddon Hall is the closest thing you can get to going back in a time machine. It is one of the most unaltered houses to survive from the medieval age. This is due to the fact it lay dormant for over 200 years. This has been the Halls saviour, it's decoration and contents remain largely the same. Saved from the fashions of the Georgians and Victorians!

Haddon Hall is a fortified medieval manor house dating from the 12th Century, and is the home of Lord and Lady Edward Manners whose family have owned it since 1567.

I visited on a lovely sunny day and the house was bathed in sunlight throughout. This highlighted the wooden paneling, giving the rooms a haze with shafts of light bursting through the diamond shaped panes of the windows.

It is because of the authenticity of the house that you get such a sense of how life used to be walking around the Hall. The rooms felt so atmospheric to me, and surprisingly homely.

Now, an Anne Boleyn connection! Margaret Coffin sometimes referred to as Mrs Cosyns had close connections with the Hall. She was Anne's bedfellow (and Cromwell's spy) when Anne was imprisoned in the Tower, we can presume from this that Anne did not consider her a great friend. Anne is said to have complained to Sir William Kingston stating,

“I thynke [much unkindness in the] Kynge to put seche abowt me as I never loved.”

It was with this in mind I knew Anne would have been discussed many times within the rooms of the hall, not just for her marriage, but also her untimely end.

There is much to see at Haddon including, the finest example of a Tudor Kitchen, and a beautiful chapel with early 15th century frescoes. All set within the rolling hills of the Peak District. The Hall also featured in the film The Other Boleyn Girl, and Jane Eyre.

We were lucky enough to stay at The Peacock Hotel another beautiful old building which is believed to be the dower house of the Hall. Staying in such close proximity was wonderful and it made the trip even more special. I would definitely recommend it for a weekend break.