Kirby Hall (DS254)

We stopped off at Kirby Hall on the way to Rutland Water and had a look around the largely ruined house.  Built between the 1580s and the early 1700s and mostly by four generations of the same family it fell into ruin once they had no real use for it.  The walls and window frames remain in a good(ish) state so it is possible to get an idea of how grand it might have looked in its heyday.  James 1st took a liking to it and stayed here several times on his Royal Progresses.

A Royal Progress was an early version of a Motley Crue tour* where the king (or queen) and their retinue toured the country at various other peoples expense,  left the locals wondering what they might have to eat over the winter and then carried on to the next place where someone else wanted to impress them with their ever more extravagant hospitality.  Then came the civil war and things just went further downhill  for anyone overly hospitable to the monarchy :-)

Other interpretations are available ... 

*ok, Elizabeth 1st's progresses were probably more soft rock than glam metal.