Just one stop on the tour today then back to York for free afternoon before a dinner tonight at Bedern Hall. So this is quite an unusual day on Alison’s tours. Usually it is go, go, go. But we still started early. So up and at breakfast by 7:15.

Our only stop was Hovingham Hall the home of the Worsely family. The current house was built in 1750-1774. Again it was designed by the owner after a study of architecture on his grand tour. Having taught riding (including to King George III) he built a riding school at the front of his house. Unlike most of these large manor houses Hovingham Hall is right in the middle of its little village. The owners the 6th Baronet and his Baroness were waiting at the door to welcome us to their home. They were a lovely couple who explained all about their ancestors and the house while we had tea and cooking in their parlor. A relatively bore part of the home that better connects the old manor house to the riding school. They said they had a lot of parties in the room including the family Christmas Eve dinner since the main dining room would already be laid out for Christmas brunch.

The house also has a private cricket pitch in the front lawn which they claim is the oldest private one in England. The local team host tournaments there each year. The riding school is closed but they discovered it has excellent acoustics so they now hold concerts there. I know you are thinking barn like staves but these are made to blend in with the manor home and are made of stone. The ground is weird. It is made of tiles made out of wood. So it looks like the cut up a wood post and laid it on the ground. Made it easy for the carriages to pull through and drop off the guests.

The house had a statute collection including some Roman antiquities. They own the statute of Samson slaying the Philistines but they have loaned it out to the V&A. It is crazy the amount of art these homes have especially when they are ones that are still generally used as residence.

We took a tour of the house which had both family rooms where it was clear people live there and large rooms decorated in an older statue for show. we couldn’t take photos but I took some from the guide book so I could have them with the post.

The Duchess of Kent who recently passed was a Worsely. So they had a tribute to her in the ballroom. With lots of photos from her wedding which she held at York Minster with the reception at her home and then other photos of her throughout her life. Her funeral was just a couple of days before we visited so it was nice of them to let us come.

After the tour we did a quick walk through the garden. They had huge yew hedges that separated out portions of the garden. We didn’t have much time so we missed the canals that they had dug to give it a palladium design. Oddly enough when they dug out the canals they discovered Roman ruins. The site was once the home of a Roman villa. When we were walking through the gardens close to the house the Baroness waved to us from her sitting room before coming back out to say goodbye.

We got back to York and wondered around for a while. They were having a food festival in one of the parks so we wandered through and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out to tour Barley Hall which we originally saw in our ghost tour. There wasn’t much too it and we went through it relatively quickly. It is funny that we are used to seeing everything in ruins so when we see something that has been fixed up to look like it would have during the medieval period it looks garish and fake. more like Disney land or a cheap renaissance fair. You don’t get the same effect if they recreate a Victorian or Edwardian room but you just can’t do it with medieval. Anyway barley hall was all done up to look like it did originally. It was a the home of the prior of St Oswald in 1360 until 1540. Sometime later it was chopped into separate dwellings and just recently discovered its medieval heritage and set up for a family friendly activity. It did have a cool floor fire pit that was found in the middle of what was the great hall/ dining room.

After that we shopped a bit more through York and then wandered through the museum gardens with the ruins for St Mary’s Abbey. It was crazy lush and beautiful. Who knew ferns could grow in England.

After the garden we headed back to the hotel to dress for dinner.

Dinner was at Bedern Hall which was just basically a great hall for the vicars choral of York Minister in 1270 until 1574. It was used for a school until the 1700s and today is a wedding and conference venue. The food was incredible. I had a cheese soufflé to start then lamb and potatoes followed by a chocolate torte. And if that wasn’t enough with tea and coffee they brought out chocolate truffle candies that just melted in your mouth and then cheese and homemade cheese crackers. I thought I was stuffed but the crackers were delicious. I wish I had taken all the left over crackers to enjoy later like while I am typing this up.

I sat by Sarah Gristwood and the dinner conversation was flowing and fun. It was a great night. more adventures tomorrow.