welcome

Haddon Hall in Derbyshire is a cold building but it offered a warm and festive welcome to start to get us in the Christmas mood, a choir in the banqueting hall, decorated trees, garlands and interactive crafts kept us entertained for the afternoon. 
The origins of the fortified medieval manor house date back to the 11th century with additions added at various stages between the 13th and the 17th centuries.Though it was never a castle (it looks like one as seen in the first extra), the manor of Haddon was protected by a wall after a license to build one was granted in 1194. The 1st Duke of Rutland in 1703 moved to Belvoir Castle, and his heirs used Haddon Hall very little, so it lay almost unaltered from it's 16th-century condition. In the 1920s, the 9th Duke of Rutland, realised its importance and began a lifetime of meticulous restoration. We enjoy it as much as its grander neighbour, Chatsworth Hall. The house is without all but basic furniture and its big stone walls, worn floors and small leaded windows show life as it would have been all those years ago.


A highlight of the visit was in the long gallery where tables laid out a lot of open pages of a Christmas card to be sent to the Queen. Visitors were invited to sign it, I have added a couple of pages in extra as we found reading people comments amusing. I liked "Merry Christmas your Majesty, have a good one ". I wonder if she will ever read what I think are genuinely warm messages.