26 July 2004

Kentwell Hall - Part II

The Phillips family still lives in half of Kentwell Hall, but the public is free to explore the other half of the Tudor manor.  The house is furnished as it was in the time of the Tudors (the mid 1600’s).  The living room is filled with portraits and lavish couches, plus a suit of armor left as if the soldier had just gone off to get a drink.

There is a library filled with books.  The bedrooms are furnished with canopy beds covered in rich fabrics.  In one bedroom there is a tiny cradle.  The dining hall holds a long table with plates and goblets that were once used by Henry the VIII and his different wives. 

Several times a year dozens of volunteers come dressed in Tudor outfits and play the parts of servants or Lord and Lady of the Manor.  They speak as they would have spoken during the reign of Henry the VIII with “thees” and “thous”, talking about “current” events, and demonstrating the crafts of the day. 

I enjoyed seeing the women press cheese and hang it in the dairy, or watching the blacksmith hammer metal tools in the forge.  One of the servant’s buildings holds an area for drying herbs, and making dyes.  The servants wear little white caps to keep off the head lice, and fox tails tied around their waists that hang behind them so the fleas can jump onto the tail instead of them.  When the tail was full of fleas they threw it away and took a fresh one.

Without a doubt the hit of that day was the Alchemist, an early version of a pharmacist.  We wandered back into the darkness of the woods where an old bearded man, dressed in a dirty gown and what looked like a black bear skin, told a small group of us about the marvels of “modern” science, 1650 style.  

In a nearby field, under a huge Chestnut tree that surely was planted during the time of the Tudors, a large wooden table was set for the lord and lady and their noble guests.  Servants waited on them, presenting them with wooden plates piled high with meat and pies.  In the kitchens the servants complained and had to be content with the food they cooked for themselves in giant pots over an open fire.  

From there we discovered a walled garden, full of fruit trees and flowers.  Huge peacocks called from atop the walls, not really caring if it was 1650 or 2004.   

There is a timeless wonder about being in a place that hasn’t changed much for hundreds of years.  The concept is difficult to imagine for those of us who came from young America, (the new colonies) as a Tudor servant pointed out.  This place was already old when the Pilgrims were landing on Plymouth Rock.  

Kentwell Hall is definitely one of my favorite places in England.  We have been there in every season. We even visited in the winter, taking cover in a barn as the courtyard was blasted with hale and wind and rain.  There are definitely more magnificent places in Europe, but this place remains our favorite.  It has a spirit and a soul.  Everything is new   old again at Kentwell Hall.