Harvington Hall - Part 1: The House

Harvington Hall must be one of the most interesting houses I have ever visited. It is a moated Tudor Manor House dating back to the 1580's and contains not only Elizabethan wall paintings but the largest surviving collection of hiding places for Catholic priests - many designed by Nicholas Owen.


The first view of the hall from the car park.

This ancient elm tree stump was once part of an avenue of trees leading to the Hall.

A drake Mallard on the lawn and

here comes the rest of the family.

Entrance to the Hall with

a very picturesque moat in which there were huge fish.

A brief history of the Hall

In 1529 the estate was sold to Sir John Pakington - a rich lawyer. The Elizabethan house was built by his great nephew Humphrey Pakington who was born in 1552, inherited he estate in 1578 and died in 1631. Humphrey was a Catholic and arranged for the installation of many priest-holes. Some of them were designed and constructed by the well-known builder of priest hiding places - Nicholas Owen (1563-1606).

Following the death of Humphrey the Hall became the dower home of his widow Abigail, nee Sacheverell. She had been his second wife and their eldest surviving daughter Mary married Sir John Yate of Buckland in Berkshire in 1630. Mary and her sister Anne often visited the Hall with their families. After the deaths of Abigail and Sir John Yate in 1659 Mary moved back to Harvington and remained there until her death in 1696.

On Mary's death the Hall was inherited by her grand-daughter (also Mary Yate) who was married to Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court, Warwickshire. The Hall then fell out of use as a place of residence. In the 19th century most of the furnishings, including panelling in the Great Chamber and the Great Staircase, were removed. By 1896 the house was derelict.

In 1923 Mrs Ellen Ryan Ferris bought it for the Archdiocese of Birmingham and restoration began in 1930. Photos of the extent of the repairs can be seen in each of the rooms. The rooms now open include the work quarters of the servants on the ground floor, the state rooms on the first and secret chapels and priests' rooms on the second.

*D

In the hallway a portrait of Abigail Sacheverell and

Lady Mary Yate

A late 19th century coachmans' bench - specially designed so a coachman could rest but not fall asleep while waiting to take his employer home!

The Great Kitchen

This Elizabethan kitchen is typical of its period with a limestone floor and white-washed walls. There are two large fireplaces - one for roasting and the other for boiling and griddling.

Above the bread oven hidden away in the thick chimney stack is an early hiding place. It was accessed by a trapdoor in the floor of the South Room privy above.

Slipware recovered from the moat

The Brewhouse - the original use of this room is unclear although it would have been used for domestic work. At one time it had two storeys and the upper one in the 19th century was used as a pigeon loft.

The Herb Garden was restored in 2000/01. The herb beds styled in knots are based on P's, Y's and T's for the Pakington, Yate and Throckmorton families.

Lady Yate's Room

This room contains the original panelling. In a small room in the corner is the garderobe (the loo!) and contents would have gone straight into the moat! Present furnishings are typical of the period when Lady Yate lived here. The design of the crewel work bed hangings were made by members of the Association of Decorative Fine Art Societies and are in the 17th century style based on wall paintings and carvings found at the Hall.

The Withdrawing Room

This room formed part of the solar in the medieval house. The walls and timbers are 14th century. A modern trapdoor in the floors covers another early hiding place made in the thick stonework next to the fireplace.

A 17th century Italian Walnut and Oak cabinet

The Great Chamber

The third and largest room of the Elizabethan family where dining, dancing and music would take place.

Stained glass telling the story of Sir Thomas More (1478 - 1535). He was an English lawyer, scholar, member of parliament and chancellor for Henry VIII. He was executed for refusing to recognise Henry's divorce and the break of the English church from Rome.

Heraldic cartouches above the fireplace - they are replicas of the originals of around 1658. The top row shows heraldic crests of marriages in the families associated with the house. i.e. Pakington - Sacheverell c 1597, Yate - Pakington 1650 and Throckmorton - Yate 1690. (The male line is on the left). The second row comprises the arms of Lord Harvington the RC Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Anglican Diocese of Worcester.

The Mermaid Passage where walls are decorated with Elizabethan arabesque paintings - scrolls entwining humans, animals, birds and mermaids.

Mr Dodd's Library

The platform at one end of the room was once a cupboard with a closed panelled front. Inside is a priest-hole constructed probably by Nicholas Owen around 1600 and is hidden cleverly behind a pivoting post. The hiding place is built between the ceiling of the Mermaid Passage and the floor of the Marble Room above. Nicholas Owen constructed priest holes in many Catholic houses. Each one is slightly different in design. Eventually he was arrested after a 12 day search of Hindlip House, Worcester, in 1606. He was tortured to death in the Tower of London refusing to betray any of his secrets.

Charles Dodd (real name Hugh Tootell) was a priest at Harvington Hall from 1722 to 1743. He was a historian and his most famous work "The Church History of England" was written at the Hall probably in this room.

In the Nursery are stained glass panels to two of England's martyrs who died in 1679.

The Chapel

This room served as a chapel from 1590 until the Georgian Chapel in the garden was opened in 1793. The walls are decorated with a design of vines, lilies and pomegranates (the latter a symbol associated with the Catholic Queen Katherine of Aragon). The paintings date from the time of Lady Yate.

The Small Chapel

The Marble Room is one of 3 rooms used by priests in the 16th and 17th centuries. It takes its name from the wall decorations in bands of red and grey giving the appearance of marble. The fireplace is fake - the priest could scramble up it to hide in a small priest hole.

The Red Room

The Priest's Room

The Nine Worthies Passage is decorated with drawings of the Nine Worthies - a favourite theme in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. Six drawings remain - apologies I didn't make a note of which drawing belonged to which name but they include Hercules, Julius Caesar, Guy of Warwick, David and Goliath, Samson and Joshua.

Finally, - apologies this is a very long post!!

The Great Staircase which was constructed about 1600 by Nicholas Owen. The original was taken to Coughton Court by the Throckmortons and this is a replica built between 1936 and 1947. There are shadow paintings on the walls - a copy of the originals.

Part 2 (hopefully much shorter) will cover the gardens, Georgian Chapel and church.


*D - Photo taken by D with the Canon SX50 bridge camera

The rest taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330.


I hope now to be able to use my Olympus dslr again occasionally. Some of you may recall the cover to the card holder compartment broke when we were on the Isle of Wight last summer. Sadly, Olympus no longer repair the e-420 cameras and the servicing agent they recommended advised me that Olympus stopped providing parts for the e-420 last October and they have now run out of replacement card covers! Luckily, I found another shop that supplied me with one and B has now replaced the cover and it seems to be working fine.




Reference : Guide Book to Harvington Hall.