Haddon Hall is a place of beauty, built by the River Wye which ambles through the glorious countryside below this magnificent building, which has a history of 900 years.
Haddon Hall is a place of beauty, built by the River Wye which ambles through the glorious countryside below this magnificent building, which has a history of 900 years.
For 300 years, Haddon was left unlived in and unaltered, and became known as The Sleeping Beauty. But with the arrival of a new family the castle was reawakened.
In the ancient Chapel, which is my favourite place to look around, old murals were uncovered on the walls, some dating back to the 13th Century. It is fascinating to look around at all these murals while sitting on one of the ancient pews.
The BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre was filmed here a few years ago, and I can remember watching it, and thinking how I would love to go and see where it was filmed. I wasn't disappointed, nor will anyone with a love of history and beautiful countryside be disappointed either.
There are sadly, pitfalls for the disabled. Many steps in the building, and outside. There are also quite a few steep steps up to the very pleasant restaurant, although in fine weather, the disabled person can sit outside at a table under an umbrella, while the able person goes up to order.
On arrival, on producing my yellow disabled card, I was charged the admission price, my husband who is my carer went in free. An electric buggy was bought down to the gate for us, which took us to the back of the building, but there were still many steps to negotiate inside. When we had finished looking at what we could, the buggy picked us up again to take us back to the gate.
Also, the parking is on the other side of the road, and a fairly busy road has to be crossed. The staff were wonderful, and did all they could to make the visit as easy as possible for anyone with mobility problems.
Although we didn't see as much as we would like of this beautiful piece of history, our visit was very enjoyable.
EDITOR: You can read more about Haddon Hall here. The website contains a wealth of information.
