On the same day we visited Rievaulx Abbey we also went to Nunnington Hall. This is a house dating back to Tudor times. Early residents were the parents of Catherine Parr who was the sixth wife of Henry VIII, who was responsible for closing the abbey. Catherine's brother lost the house after supporting the wrong royal and a later owner also picked the wrong side. You had to be careful who you gave your allegiance to back then. In the 20th century it became a normal family home until the National Trust took it over. Sometimes owners could just not afford to keep such a large house, especially if they were hit with death duties.
From the car park you cross the river to the house. It is not a huge place, but probably had more land in its prime. As it is a National Trust property and so we got in free.
We were hungry by then so went straight to the cafe on the far side. A peacock was wandering around there. The seating was all outside, but it was a nice day. I had a mixed bean chili and then some cake.
The gardens did not extend too far, but we like to look anyway to get ideas. They had lots of compost bins with signs showing the various stages. We have a few bins of our own, but they are smaller. They had a vegetable garden with plenty going on. There were some activities for kids such as archery and a treasure hunt. Little kids will happily run around, but we have found that by the time they become teenagers they can get bored by places like this. Now the kids are grown up we can take our time.
You are struck as you walk in by all these dead animals that one of the owners probably shot. There was a lion and a tiger. See the tiny skull of some antelope that cannot have been too frightening.
There is a large lobby area that we were told used to be an outside yard. The tiled floor may date back to then. The volunteers who keep an eye on things are generally well informed on the history and happy to answer questions.
Upstairs are several large wall hangings that are hundreds of years old. I think some have recently been restored.
The later owners used this as a sort of holiday home where they could hunt and fish. They probably had a big house in London too. You can see the doorway to this bedroom is quite low and I had to duck a bit. Very old houses often have low doors, including our old cottage.
Some rooms had the original wood paneling. I expect that was partly as insulation, but you had a fireplace in each room anyway.
This toilet was not in use, but there was another for the public that had a big wooden seat. This was probably a luxury item in its day. A lot of poorer people did not have a bathroom and the toilet would be in a separate building.
Someone collected these miniature models of different rooms. A sign said that all the instruments in the music room could be played, but touching was not allowed.
On the top floor were some art displays. These were from some books for children. There were some other works that were more our sort of thing.
Nunnington is not the most spectacular of stately homes, but then it feels like somewhere you could feel at home and the history is interesting.
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