{"id":150,"date":"2012-06-25T08:26:15","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T13:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/?p=150"},"modified":"2012-07-09T20:24:51","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T01:24:51","slug":"kentwell-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/?p=150","title":{"rendered":"Kentwell Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, June 23rd<\/sup><\/p>\n

So, we had grand plans for today, that are probably not what anyone else in their right mind would have done.\u00a0 There is, out in a town called Long Melford, a Tudor Hall called Kentwell.\u00a0 And while the Hall is often open to tourists, on certain dates, they also do re-enactments of different time periods, ranging from Tudor all the way through WWII.\u00a0 Saturday was a Tudor day!\u00a0 Now, we\u2019d heard about Kentwell because a lot of information about the daily life, artifacts and costume of average Tudors has been coming from people involved with Kentwell in the last few years.\u00a0 We have a book, for example, on Tudor costume, from a woman at Kentwell.\u00a0 So we had very high expectations for the awesomeness of this re-enactment.<\/p>\n

Getting to Kentwell was an adventure in itself!\u00a0 We took a train from London, which passed right by the Olympic Park (the torch looks cool!) out into the countryside.\u00a0 We switched trains at a town called Marks Tey, and the train we switched onto was 1 car long!\u00a0 It also sounded like a slightly sick lawnmower.\u00a0 It was a lovely ride, though, especially because for most of it, we had the train basically to ourselves.\u00a0 Hint to people traveling in the UK \u2013 book things online ahead of time!\u00a0 It almost always results in a discounted rate and no waiting in freakishly long line.\u00a0 Also, if anyone was thinking of going to the Olympics \u2013 it is going to be CHAOS.\u00a0 It was chaos-y with not all of the Olympics going on, and I do not see how they are going to make it less so in a month.\u00a0 Just saying.<\/p>\n

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On the train to Marks Tey!<\/p><\/div>\n

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We went right past where they Olympics are going to be. The torch looks pretty cool<\/p><\/div>\n

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The train from Marks Tey to Long Melford. It was literally one car long<\/p><\/div>\n

When we finally got to Kentwell, we realized we were early, so we went for a wander in Long Melford.\u00a0 We found an awesome path through the fields of flowers \u2013 they have these awesome step things for getting over fences that apparently, sheep can\u2019t do \u2013 and a beautiful little church.\u00a0 We also managed to find a used book sale, and an antiques rummage sale, both of which were fun to pick through.\u00a0 Then we headed back up to Kentwell.<\/p>\n

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This was just one of many of these that we found – a step to get over the fence. So clever! And walking through the fields is lovely.<\/p><\/div>\n

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See?? Bean and Bailey would have LOVED it out here.<\/p><\/div>\n

The first thing about Kentwell is that they encourage you to change your money from modern money into pennies, tuppence and groats (four pennies).\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to, but it did make it kind of fun to see things on sale for a penny.\u00a0 When you first go through, you can see the brick manor house at the end of a long driveway, surrounded by lawns and a moat.\u00a0 One thing that was pretty cool was that it wasn\u2019t all packed into one place.\u00a0 All of the people and things to see were very spread out, and you had to really wander around to see everything.\u00a0 We started off in the forest, and saw people working the local clay on wheels to make pots and bowls and things, near where they were stoking up the fire for the kilns.\u00a0 You definitely get the sense that everything that was being done was for a purpose \u2013 they actually used the stuff they made and did.\u00a0 They had a farm yard, which contained stabled horses, and a wagon, as well as a young woman doing straw plaiting, and an old woman telling stories.\u00a0 There was an encampment of a noble family and their retinue, including the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey.\u00a0 They were there, of course, for the wedding happening tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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Kentwell Hall<\/p><\/div>\n

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Entering the manor gates. Kentwell Hall is in the background, and they are dancing in the front.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Woodcutters. Gotta say, the guy on the left was having some serious difficulty. I totally could have done it better. Hehehe<\/p><\/div>\n

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Making clay pots! The girl on the left was very funny. She had made her pot slightly too thin, and it was getting all wobbly. “When in doubt, put a spout!”<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spotty little piggle wiggles!<\/p><\/div>\n

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An encampment of nobles near the manor. Their dresses were pretty, and the little girl was adorable.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This guy made coats of arms! They looked really cool.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cooking. Smelled GOOD<\/p><\/div>\n

There were people playing with swords, which of course stopped Kevin cold for a good half hour, as he discovered that one of them was willing to talk about sharp pointy things with him.\u00a0 There were also these gigantic, furry donkeys in a pen; I think they were Spanish, but they looked weird.\u00a0 We found some of the arts and crafts as well \u2013 there were women working on making felt hats, and others who were dyeing fabric, as well as a large complement of spinners, weavers, carders and so on in the upstairs.\u00a0 They do keep a flock of sheep, and since it\u2019s just after shearing, the loft was full to the rafters.\u00a0 Mind you, this is all before we\u2019d even set foot in the main house, and we hadn\u2019t even gone around to the other side.<\/p>\n

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Natural dyeing! They had a couple of pots going with different things, and a rainbow of yarn hung up.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Felting hats! As a side note – I tried this when we got home. Mine came out like some sort of sea creature. Will have to try again, I suppose.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A school for the children! They were working on their sums and letters, and a table off to the side was for playing games.<\/p><\/div>\n

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All together now: AWW!<\/p><\/div>\n

In the main house itself, one of the central features is the daily dinner (lunch), which is prepared in the huge kitchens, and then presented and eaten by the nobles in the dining room.\u00a0 They have a large company of men and boys who are the footmen to the table, setting it, and waiting it (as women were cheaper labor, it was a sign of wealth if you could have men to wait your tables).\u00a0 There was an adjoining parlor where musicians were playing and someone was teaching a company of young ladies the latest dances.<\/p>\n

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The manor hall itself, with the moat and all. The moat didn’t go all the way around… Don’t really know why… Maybe just is extra fancy fish pond.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the kitchen! I like kitchens.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dance lessons in the parlor!<\/p><\/div>\n

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She was learning that one with all the leaping and being picked up.<\/p><\/div>\n

Attached to the main house were the brewhouse, where they were working on a batch of ale.\u00a0 No one drank water, ever, so beer and ale were very important because they were safe to drink \u2013 the brewing process killed all the bacteria and so on.\u00a0 Not that they knew that, but it worked, so they did it.\u00a0 There was also the bake house, with the huge oven in which all of the bread for everyone on the manor would have been baked, and the dairy for milk, butter and cheeses.\u00a0 Upstairs was rooms dedicated to herbs, and where people were working on needlework.\u00a0 Behind the manor, there was an enormous garden.\u00a0 Now, it was pretty clear that the garden had been re- done in a sort of Victorian walled garden, but they had taken the different beds, and grown herbs and things of the Tudor period.\u00a0 They were also very beautiful, and there was a peacock strutting around showing off for no one in particular.<\/p>\n

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In the dairy. The hangy things are cheeses (the whole place kind of smelled like cheese)<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the bakery! The oven is that giant brick thing behind her.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tasty!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The gate through to the garden<\/p><\/div>\n

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Pretty herby flowers. I forget what these were, but they’re not lavender. Hrm..<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the gardens.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Good roses! I like this one, looks like peppermint<\/p><\/div>\n

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Madder plants! The roots of these plants are used for red dye. Kevin and I are thinking of letting them take over part of the garden, just for fun.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Show off!<\/p><\/div>\n

Around the other side, and the front, there was an alchemists\u2019 hut, and a stall selling fruit and fresh baked biscuits (cookies).\u00a0 There were a several men recently returned from trade, with a greatly improved navigational map of the world, and a man in charge of creating and regulating coats of arms.\u00a0 At around 3, because it was Midsummer, they had a big parade and bonfire, and afterwards there was dancing for everyone.\u00a0 They had a couple of very fun very easy dances, as well as a significantly simplified version of Peascods.\u00a0 All in all, it was a very good day, and when they kicked us out, we were surprised how fast time had gone.<\/p>\n

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The noble family watching the bonfire for Midsummer<\/p><\/div>\n

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Midsummer parade and bonfire! Afterward there was dancing!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday, June 23rd So, we had grand plans for today, that are probably not what anyone else in their right mind would have done.\u00a0 There is, out in a town called Long Melford, a Tudor Hall called Kentwell.\u00a0 And while the Hall is often open to tourists, on certain dates, they also do re-enactments of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kevinandsarah.theladyadventurer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}