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Blakesley
Hall in April 2002
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| Blakesley Hall early
in April 2002. The scaffolding has
long gone and the outside brick cladding
whitewashed. Nothing seems to have
changed from November 2000, when
it was first closed! |
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Inside the house
Inside, though,
things are starting to happen.
The furniture has been returned
from the city stores and Aston
Hall where it has been kept safely
for the last two years. Here are
the long table and benches ready
to be unwrapped from their packaging
and set out in the great hall.
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The space by the hall
At the far end of
the great hall there is a large alcove.
The museum think that this is 'the
space by the hall' recorded in the
inventory of 1684. This is what it
looks like now - remember what was
happening to it back in July 2001?
You can still see the old pieces
of wood under the window, but they
have been whitewashed over!
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The great parlour
The new painted cloth
in the great parlour is a beautiful
copy. It covers all the walls although
there is evidence that in Tudor times
there was wooden panelling in this
room. The museum could not afford
to replace the oak panelling and
have chosen the a less expensive
wall covering that many houses of
this style had in the late 16th century.
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The little parlour
The new little parlour,
now in its proper place next to the
great parlour. This is where the
toilets used to be! The lovely new
oriel window is ready and the matting
on the floor. Now, all that needs
to be done is to unwrap and arrange
the furniture, and put up the wall
cloth!
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An outside view of
changes to the parlour wing
From outside the house you can see
the two oriel windows - the new one
is a much lighter colour. The back
door has become the new exit from
the great parlour.
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| Walking around the
corner towards the kitchen extension
you can see where the old back door
used to be. The two new upright timbers
fill in the space. If you look closely
you should be able to see the ground
sill that the timbers are slotted
into. Even this does not completely
prevent the bottom of the wood from
rotting - the lighter patches of
silvery-grey at the foot of the old
timbers show where they have been
repaired. |
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The painted chamber
Upstairs the tester bed is being
reconstructed in the painted chamber.
Looking from the narrow passageway
at the back of the bedroom you
can see the headboard and two
side pieces
are in place. The posts at the
end of the bed are also in
place. Tester
beds were expensive and had to
be moved from place to place
quite often,
so they were made in the form of
a 'kit'. Very like MFI furniture
today, but much stronger - and
more simple to put together!
The oak headboard was carved with
patterns.
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The bed frame was
held together by a rope which was
threaded through holes crossways
and up and down. You can see the
holes here. At the top of this picture
the bed roof - testerne - is propped
up against the wall.
The patterns were carved on the
underside of the roof, not on the
top. Richard Smalbroke could lie
in bed and look up at the beautiful
patterne on the 'ceiling' of his
bed.
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The new servant's
chamber
The room that had been used as
the little parlour is now a servants'
chamber. It would probably have
been a family bed chamber originally,
but as the curators cannot use
the attics - the servants' sleeping
quarters in the 16th and 17th centuries
- it was decided to use this space.
The half-headed bed is roped together
just like the tester bed. In the
picture you can see the horizontal
ropes have been done, now the vertical
roping needs to be done.
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The children's chamber
The furniture for the children's chamber has been returned from store, ready to be reassembled. The wooden cradle had been on display in the great parlour at Aston Hall, the grand Jacobean mansion; Blakesley Hall is less impressive but more homely! |
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The new wall cloth
is very bright and attractive. It
covers all the walls and makes the
room feel warmer. The panel with
writing in says 'Godes peace be here
amen'.
The painted cloth was made especially
for this room. The old painted
cloth has been put in store.
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The Corridor
The corridor to the toilet chute and back stairs has new floorboards! You can see the old window space at the end of the passage, the original back wall of the house. |
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The cross passage
The passage crosses the Hall between
the graet hall and the service rooms.
It has been emptied of nearly all
the rubbish and bits of wood that
were being kept there. If we had
come down the back stairs by the
kitchen we would appear around the
corner by the fire extinguisher!
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