Tuesday 19 September 2006

A Lovely House in Fen land

On the tenth of September ,the day I posted my tribute to John Santore ,It was Heritage day ,not sure how wide spread it was certainly in Peterborough and Huntingdon areas,all sorts of places of interest were open to the public,we had ,had visitors all morning and I think Maurice saw how involved I had been in the tribute ,we decided to go out for a ride ,and sheerly by accident we discovered ,that a house of note was open to the public ,

Funnily enough it is a house we pass by quite often ,Grade one listed  Bodsey house is now privately owned, so this was a rare chance to see it ,by a delightful couple Brian and Chris,Chris laughingly explained Brian had come home one day recently and announced ,he had been approached about  opening up the house to the public on Heritage day ,he had agreed ,he was however conspicuous by his absence ,Chris however did a marvelous job showing groups of people around ,and telling us lots of interesting facts .

The house was part of an endowment to the local Abbey,and was used as a retreat for the Abbot and monks,The present day house,is of variuos dates.Some of the outbuildings are mediaeval while part of a 14th century chapel remains .And is in use as the couples lounge ,very tastefully decorated keeping many of the features .The major part of the house dates from the 17th century and one of the bedrooms has a barrel shaped ceiling .

 We were shown into a room down stairs ,and the thickness of the walls was pointed out ,also that this was an outside wall,,so this was in fact part of the old courtyard ,where two of the sons of King Canute were buried ,they had been drowned in the near by Mere which in those days was vast ,before the fens were drained ,my Brother in law Pete said he had read that the King had a road built around the Mere because he refused to go by boat ,the usual method .in this area at the time .

Chris explained that Brian is a restoration builder ,,and that he uncovers old walls ,we saw the old whattle and daub in the hall way ,I took pictures of the downstairs cloak room ,Maurice was excited to find the motor bike in there ,(every home should have one !)Iwas excited to see the little house ,on the dresser ,an old Dr Barnardo's collection box !there was also one on the hall table ,we had one when I was a  child ,we put our pennys in there as children and the money was to help run homes for orphan  children .

Up stairs the floors were all uneven and Chris explained they had to saw down a front and back leg on her wardrobe in order for it to stand level ! The bedroom with the barrel shaped ceiling ,had a false ceiling until the 1950's imagine their delight when they opened it up to find those beams .

We enjoyed our afternoon visiting Bodsey house I hope you did too ,With Love

         Jan xx

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed it! Pics were great, TY for sharing. Nice entry.
Hugs, Sugar

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for that Jan...so very interesting!  Next time I am down that way I must try to have a look eat the house ven if its only from the outside !  Eve xx

Anonymous said...

gosh that sounds fantastic
just my cup of tea (minus the motorbike)

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,

Thanks for showing us the photos of Bodsey House, how wonderful to be able to live there.  I`m glad you both enjoyed your day out I suppose the loo is the only place to keep a motorbike...lol!  :o)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

Hello Jan - what a delightful visit, i do love local history, the house was an absolute gem.   Thanku for sharing with us.
Luv Jayne x
http://journals.aol.co.uk/funnyface0s0/SingleGirl

Anonymous said...

Jan, I really enjoyed that, what a lovely house! I took ages looking at the pics, they were brilliant. When I was a kid, we had a black cat named zebo, after she apparently knocked a jar over as a kitten. I can,t get over that old graffiti on the window, I luv that stuff! thanks for sharing, Linda xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/lindachapmanuk/metamorphing

Anonymous said...

ps. I also noted the capo di monte plaques in one of them! lol But in the first pic of the bedroom, what is on that pic on the right of the bed (criss cross) ta! Linda xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan. I really enjoyed seeing this.  WOW imagine living in a house that old.  If the walls could only talk!  Boy would I listen!
Loved your pictures.  Thanks for sharing this.
Pam

Anonymous said...

hi Jan...

i love old houses, they seem so interesting...looks like you had a good day...best wishes!

Astra!

Anonymous said...

Wow!  Again, you outdo yourself with these entries!  I just love reading about all the places you visit!  And the pictures!  Love them!

Thanks, Jan!

Hugs
jackie

Anonymous said...

Wattle and daub....that takes me back to my primary school history lessons!
You always go to some interesting places - thanks for sharing them with us.
Hugs,
Ains xxx

Anonymous said...

Oh I love old places like that, isn't it nice that they've restored it like that :o)  My cousin - who lives in America - would have been smelling everything, she says you can smell the history in places like that!
Sara   x

Anonymous said...

Now that's where I want to live! Chris was very good to let the house be open to the public, bet Brian was down the pub! I love that bike too, wish I had one in my loo! I'm glad you enjoyed looking round, thanks for showing it to us, it's beautiful! Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

I forgot to say have you ever been to Shakespeares house? That has graffiti scratched on the window too. Must have been some gang going around at that time! Lol! Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

Thanks for my little trip out on Heritage Day. Was so annoyed because I was ill Heritage Weekend, so many places I wanted to see; but thanks to you my friend, I had my trip in the end. Take care.
Hugs Sylvia xxx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/Sylviam4000/YeOldeEnglishPosy/

Anonymous said...

We have heritage days too! I would have liked to look in that house too. . I like a bit of History. . .do you have blue plaques on some of your buildings Jan?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful old home. Thanks for sharing a piece of history with us.  That cealing is wonderful !  We have a few historic homes here that open up, but they are only 100 some years old, nothing to compare with what you have.

We are a very young country and often forget that here in the USA. 'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures. It's so good to see these places that aren't normally open to the public.

Linda x.

http://journals.aol.co.uk/lindaggeorge/GeorgeMansions/

Anonymous said...

Oh yes I did enjoy Bodsey House and your butterfies too. Paula

Anonymous said...

Jan loved the pictures ~ I love old properties how lucky you were to be able to go inside and take these you have shown us ~ and what an interesting read Thanks for the History of the house ~ that Barrel shaped ceiling is beautiful ~ I can imagine how delighted they must have been to see those beams ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

I love journal entries that go into history detail and it sounds like the building was a joy to visit :-)  Thanks for sharing the photos with us

Jen xx

Anonymous said...

What beautiful pictures.  I especially love the old cars.  If I could afford one, I would have an old roadster to drive around.  I would enjoy seeing that place in person.  Perhaps one day...oh I can dream...
Kathy  

Anonymous said...

Here in London we have Open House Weekend, which this year was 16 & 17 Sept.......but I went to Shropshire!! It's interesting to see these places, isn't it?
http://journals.aol.co.uk/irisclyde/LaDolceVita

Anonymous said...

Lovely entry and photos asusal,  LOL at the motorbike in the toilet, some lovely vintage cars,
take care Lynnexx

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan ,that was a good find ,Bodsey House  open to the public for just that day.
Lovely to see the photos you took ,know what you mean about the old grate needing some black lead.Bought back memories of the Barnardos box houses........With Love Jeanxx

Anonymous said...

I was pleased to see the photos of Bodsey House.  The BSA motorcycle (Beezer)  looked exactly like the first motor cycle I ever owned.  Happy days.

John.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful...Wonderful...Wonderful!  I just love old houses.  The only ones we have around here are operated as tourist attractions and photos aren't allowed.  Wish I could have been with you.

Anonymous said...

I did enjoy my visit thanks to you! What a wonderful armchair visit you supplied!
Thank you,
Dianna

Anonymous said...

Yes, I enjoyed it very much!  Very interesting.  Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Hugs and GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

Jan, how wonderful that Chris and Brian shared their historical home.  What a fascinating home that is.   My oldest daughter lived in an historical home one year in college or should I say rented a room in one.  The floors were uneven also like this one.  Everything was on a slant.  Thanks for sharing this fascinating Bodsey with us. xx  Chris

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful tour: I particularly admired the bed, and the Dr Barnardo's box brought back so many memories.  Bunny. http://journals.aol.co.uk/blpltt/nothing-new-under-the-sun