In late October, I visited Speke Hall. Speke Hall is located near Liverpool airport, and it is maintained by the National Trust. The hall and grounds are right next to the landing strip, so planes can be heard arriving and departing from Liverpool Airport nearby. It's also not far from the river Mersey. The manor house dates from the Tudor period, and it was restored in the 1800s with Arts and Crafts interiors after it had falled into decay for some years. There are some grounds to explore as well along the river.
I listened to a talk about the history of the house, which actually focused more on the architecture. It was conducted by a lady wearing Tudor period dress. The house was owned by the Norris family, and they were Catholics and hid a priest in their home. As Liverpool was popular as a slave port, the owners had financed the hall from slave trade.
I first had a wander around the grounds listening to the guide discuss the architecture of the hall and the grounds.
The hall does look really nice with the autumn colour.
The hall was originally surrounded by a moat with the bridge at the front being the entrance.
Across the bridge led into the interior courtyard and access to the hall.
Many of the rooms were dark, and a central hallway had multiple rooms leading off of it.
As I visited in the week before Halloween, the hall was decorated with a Halloween theme with each room having its own theme. The first room I went in was dedicated to Edgae Allan Poe's "The Raven".
The games room had a skeleton.
There were other rooms decorated in the Arts and Crafts style.
The Great Hall was the largest room with high ceilings.
This beautiful room was dimly lit with a lot of dark wood panelling.
By the window was another Halloween display.
Upstairs and in one of the bedrooms, the Halloween display was "A Picture of Dorian Gray".
The carvings and furniture was carved beautifully in some of the rooms.
In the 18th century remodelling, the bathroom was fitted.
The kitchens were the next to see.
There was a cauldron for Halloween and a lot of magical recipes.
After visiting the house, I had a quick wander through the woods and went to the hedge maze. There did not seem to be a separate entrance and exit, though all but one or two of the bridges were fenced off.
I enjoyed the visit to Speke Hall but would not have minded a little more time to explore the grounds and see the gardens in the summer months.
Leave a comment