HBM Kirby Hall Northamptonshire 8th September 2024

HBM to everyone. Have a great start to the new week.

English Heritage are the custodians of the semi-ruined Elizabethan Kirby Hall near Corby although the building and gardens are still owned by the Earl of Winchilsea.

Wiki tells us:-
One of the great Elizabethan houses of England, Kirby Hall was built for Sir Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwick. In 1575, Sir Christopher Hatton of Holdenby purchased the property, Hatton was Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I. It is a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house.

Built as an Elizabethan country house in 1570, based on the designs in French architectural pattern books it was expanded in the Classical style over the course of the following decades. Abandoned in the 1880s the house is now in a semi-ruined state with many parts roof-less although the Great Hall and state rooms remain intact. The gardens, with their elaborate "cutwork" design, complete with statues and urns, have been recently restored.