Loving Lincolnshire

 When the weather is absolutely brilliant, what's not to like?  Our day began in the breakfast room, where we enjoyed a delightful meal with fellow guests of the B&B.  Very entertaining conversation. Then, we skipped out a bit early to make our way to Mass in a village about half an hour away. 

With the help of 2 guests and one of the hosts, Marty was easily directed in maneuvering the car in order to make our way down the narrow, steep grade driveway. That in itself was a great way to begin the day!

Mass was in a small Victorian church in Woodhall Spa.  We found it kind of ironic that it was on Cromwell Ave considering that a man with that surname was a staunch anti-Catholic.  Perhaps this street is named after a different Cromwell.  

From here we drove just a few miles to the National Trust Site: Tattershall Castle.  We had to check in through the gate house and cross the moat to get to the castle grounds. 

Did I mention that it was a beautiful Day?  How awesome is that?

The origins of this castle date back to 1231 when Robert de Tateshale was granted a license to build a manor house of stone at Tattershall.  The building was inherited by Lord Ralph Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, in 1434, when he was Lord Treasurer of England, serving under King Henry VI.  He wanted something a bit more grandiose and he commissioned the building of the Great Tower. He had new moats dug and expanded the existed moats resulting in a set of double moats. This added to the grandeur of the building in Cromwell's eyes. 

Lord Ralph Cromwell passed without a direct heir and the castle passed to the Crown who granted it to several loyal subjects:  Edward IV, Henry VII, Margaret Beaufort, Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy and Charles Brandon.  In 1537, Henry VIII gifted the castle to Brandon who transformed the castle into a Tudor palace. 

In 1643, much of the castle was destroyed during the Civil War and only the great tower remained.  It was set for destruction when the Earl of Lincoln, who owned it at the time, urged Parliament to spare the tower.  When he died 50 years later, the standing tower passed to the Fortesque family who let the tower become a ruin.    

In 1911, Lord Curzon bought the castle, intent to keep it from destruction.  He made extensive improvements, upgraded the fireplaces and had the moats reformed.  

In 1914, the castle was opened as a visitor attraction.  Lord Curzon was determined that this magnificent building be preserved for future enjoyment, so he bequeathed the castle to the National Trust upon his death in 1925.  And, as a result we have the opportunity to enjoy his efforts! 

We were encouraged to tour the castle on our own as there were information boards positioned throughout.  Walking into the ground floor, you can see the magnificent fireplace.

There were numerous stained glass windows, each representing an owner of the castle throughout history. 

We walked out of the grand hall 

and into a separate entrance that led us to a stairway.  

We were told that it was 147 steps to the top.  So, we began the ascent.

The stairwell is quite wide, and has smooth stone handles actually cut into the side making it relatively easy to trek upwards. 

The first floor featured a grand central hall with a very ornate fireplace, designed to highlight his personal affiliations and status. 

Walking up yet another flight led to another grand hall.

It was adorned with Flemish tapestries that had been brought in by Lord Curzon to give an idea of what the hall would have looked like during the time of Cromwell. 

Here you see yet another ornate fireplace with Marty standing in front.

And there was a model dressed in Tudor fashion.

One of the extremely interesting facets of this castle was the amount of "graffiti" that was scratched into the stone walls. Here is one small example.   Look closely and you will see the name James Gibson, 1642.  

James was the vicar of Horncastle whose teachings leaned more toward a Catholic philosophy.  In 1642, he was imprisoned in the tower by the 4th Earl of Lincoln, Theophilus Clinton.  The graffiti with his name inscribed is on the outer door frame to the floor where the earl would have had his sleeping chambers. 

One can only imagine how he managed to get so close to the earl, and how he found the time to make the inscription!

Climbing up even further, one can see the improvements that Lord Curzon made to the top of the tower, carefully replacing the bricks and fortifying the turrets. 

Peering over the edge, you can see one of the moat walls.  But vegetation sits where the water would have normally been. 

At the very top, 

the views on a clear day like today were outstanding!

It was a tad windy, but we weren't complaining!

From here we made our way back down the 147 steps, which I felt seemed so much longer than coming up.  Probably because we didn't stop on every floor on the way down.  But I managed without much issue. 

Both Marty and I really enjoyed this excursion.   The building is quite different than other properties that we've visited and it was fascinating to read of the final owners determination that it be saved for future generations to enjoy. 

Back on the road, we headed just about 30 miles east to Gunby Estate.  

Walking from the parking lot to the estate, one first passes through this building with the clock tower. 

And, do you want to know what is just inside that archway? 

A tea room!  Are you surprised?  Of course, it was time for our afternoon cream tea! 

Once again, the weather was awesome and the atmosphere was delightful! 

We then headed off to see the gardens. There were myriads of flowers still holding onto their magnificent colors.   

The apple trees, and in this case, apple arch, are all bursting with fruit ready for picking. 

and the squash and pumpkins seem to have already been harvested. 

They were  so many beautiful flowers to view that I certainly cannot post a photo of every one of them.  I've chosen just some highlights. 

We then headed to the house so that we wouldn't miss the opportunity to tour.  We were greeted by a very informative volunteer who gave us a quick run down on the family.  

This estate, known as Gunby, was acquired by the Massingberd family in the early 1600's. 

 In 1700, Sir William Massingberd, the 2nd Baronet built the house that we see today.  Some of the red brick that you see was important from Holland in 1699, and others were made on site. 

The 2nd Baronet was well known among the aristocracy and he managed to change the inheritance laws to include the female line for his own particular family.  The only caveat was that the surname needed to include the name Massingberd. So, upon his death, his daughter Elizabeth inherited the estate.  

 

The house continued to pass through direct line owners, but with the claimed death of Algernon Massingberd, known as "Naughty" Massingberd,  

the property passed to his uncle, Charles, an astute businessman.  Naughty had significant gambling debts, left the country, and seemed to have just disappeared.  When it was concluded that he must be dead, Charles had to wait seven years before he could make claim to the property. He paid off Algernon's debts and made significant improvements to the house prior to its passing to his daughter, Emily Caroline.  

Emily was a lover of the arts and she loved to play the violin.  She was a political activist who founded the Pioneer club in 1892, an organization that was concerned with equal rights for women.  She married and had four children, but was left a widow at a very young age.  

It was her youngest daughter, Diana, who became the estate owner upon her mother's passing. 

She married Archibald Montgomery, who had served in WWI as a Major, rising to the rank of Major General and eventually becoming Field Marshal in 1935. 

In 1943, Archibald was told that several of his trees needed to be removed to accommodate the building of a RAF bomber airfield.  Being a military man himself, he was more than happy to agree to their removal.  But, he then learned that the roof of his house would also need to be removed.  

Archibald wrote a letter to the king asking him to rescind the order, but the Air Ministry was insistent that the house must go.  He then contacted the National Trust and learned that if he donated the house to the National Trust, then it would be preserved, and it could not be destroyed for the construction of an airfield. 

Since he and Diana had no children to inherit the property, he made the decision to donate it to the trust with the entire contents intact.  He passed in 1947 but it had been agreed that Diana could continue to live in the house until her passing in 1963. 

The house contains the items that would have been on site when it was acquired by the trust.  There was a cozy library filled with various artifact and many shelves of books.  

The staircase was pretty magnificent, yet simply decorated with family portraits on the walls. 

There were no ornate ceiling decorations in the living rooms, as it was a family home, not a showcase.  The one main bedroom was quite comfortable but not overdone. This is where Diana spent her last days. 

This piece stood in the very large parlor that had been designed for musical entertainment. 

And to add to the experience, there was a volunteer musician playing some lovely songs on the piano in the room.  The acoustics were magnificent! 

What better way to end the tour! 

From here, Marty drove us back to Lincoln, to our B&B perched on a hill, where we parked our car for the evening, and walked down a steep hill to the White Horse for dinner. 

It was a lovely evening, for sure.  We then hiked back up the hill, which seems quite fair considering those daily cream teas we've been partaking, and Marty watched the Steeler game on his phone in our room. 

Of course, it added to his day with a team win! 

Hope you enjoyed today's adventure and that you don't find all of the background information to be tedious.  I do get pretty excited about the history, and I'm hoping that my readers do as well. 

Thanks for following along!

Until next time....