Speke Hall

As Weston previously posted, last Saturday we went to Speke Hall, which is a Tudor mansion.  Speke Hall is a National Trust property, meaning we get in free, as we are members of the National Trust.  There is a yearly fee (not sure what it is, maybe 100 pounds??), and for that fee you receive free admit to most properties (there are a lot).  There is also a magazine that comes, and newsletters.  Most of the Trust properties are pretty kid-friendly, and the tour guides do well to entertain them, and most sites also have a playground.  Some also have the children's "quiz" for them to complete as they go from exhibit to exhibit, to keep them involved.

A lot of the properties have special Christmas doings.  Speke Hall was to have a Victorian Christmas Weekend-traditional Victorian decorations, music, storytelling, crafts, SANTA.....  And it is pretty close to us (30-35 minutes).  It is very near John Lennon Airport, on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Half the fun is getting there, right?  Apparently so for the kids, as they seemed to enjoy the bridge.  We did see Santa, and Weston had already mailed Santa a gift with his list, so he didn't have a list, but Nolan did have one.  We then went on to explore the mansion.

Speke Hall was built in the 1500s, during the Tudor reign, and you can see the house was designed in the Tudor fashion.

Kids in front of Speke Hall

You can see most of the mansion from here.  There were various outbuildings as well, all beautifully done in the Tudor style.

   The Tudors started their reign with Henry VII, then the infamous Henry VIII (with all the wives), who was Protestant, and so got rid of Catholic monasteries, even though he still worshipped as a Catholic.  His son, the boy king, Edward was next, and he also was Protestant.  He's the one on the throne from age 9-16 when he died of Tb.  Next came Mary I, who was Catholic, so she reinstated the Pope.  She ended up with the nickname Bloody Mary, as she had a lot of Protestants beheaded.  After her was Elizabeth I, who had the country revert to Protestant again.  This ends the Tudor period.   You had to follow the religion of the ruler, or risk your life.  Which explains why in the courtyard of the house, there was an eavesdropping hole, so they could listen to conversations, to see if they were going to try to capture the priests that the Norris family owning Speke Hall hid.  I've been brushing up on my English history a bit.

Can you see the eavesdropping hole?

Explanation of the eavesdropping hole

   There was also a spy hole upstairs, so the family could see if a "priest hunter" was approaching and they had to hide the priest.  There was a priest's bedroom, but when people came, he had to hide.  To the left of the fireplace in his bedroom was a secret panel, that when opened revealed a ladder that went up to a secret area for the priest to hide.  The rooms were all decorated for Christmas, and the tree was just beautiful.

There were also various activities you could participate in, including making pomanders, or making sugar mice.

Sugar mice made from icing--fondant/marzipam??

When we were through touring the house, we went outdoors.  They had a large (probably 1 acre) maze made with various gates, hedges, staircases, etc.  Kids had fun finding their way about to the end.

A poor shot of the outdoor maze with a blur of 2 kids in it.

 This house was rather neat.  Not just a mansion, but intriguing with the spy aspect.  And the decor was very festive.  A fine afternoon.