Haddon Hall - Afternoon Tour

Haddon Hall was another great estate owned by the 10th Duke of Rutland who also owned Belvoir Castle. He has 2 sons. The eldest, now 11th Duke, inherited Belvoir Castle and the younger son, Lord Edward Manners, inherited Haddon Hall.

Haddon Hall has existed here since Norman times and is a good example of a fortified manor house and was built in the 1100’s. As it has never been rebuilt it presents as the incredibly old property that it is. It is a good example of a fortified house and has fine examples of medieval and Tudor architecture. We did a tour with Jackie who entertained and educated us. We loved the way it was presented. To our eye more tasteful than many of these properties that have so much on display.

The ‘Dole’ cupboards were interesting. The largest collection in the world is held here. These were put outside houses such as Haddon for passing traders or estate workers and were filled with food and leftovers from the kitchen. The modern phrase ‘on the dole’ (receiving assistance) stems from the purpose of the ‘dole’ cupboard.

Like most of these privately owned estates there has been a need to make them ‘pay their way’ as the maintenance is so expensive. Jayne Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Mary Queen of Scots are some of the films that have included Haddon Hall in their locations. It is open to the public and has a small cafe located in the old stable area.

The grounds include beautiful gardens and it is set in a picturesque rural setting with a river, bridge and a dovecot set in the low lying hills.

Haddon Estate was once much larger, stretching almost to Sheffield and including most of Bakewell. It still includes the village of Alport and part of Rowsley. We stayed at The Peacock at Rowsley, a small luxury hotel, two years ago and John’s niece (actually second cousin) Donna and husband Paul joined us for a meal there. Apparently Lord Manners recently acquired it so it is back in the fold. It is famed for its seven miles of fly fishing along river frontage to the rivers Wye and Derwent - the hotel being a lovely and convenient place to stay. We decided to have an early dinner there as it was so close and we had enjoyed it so much last visit. Lovely memories, dinner, and walk in their gardens.

Back to Belvoir (pronounced Beaver as the locals way back were not happy with the French influence) to pack ready to head off to our next accommodation tomorrow.
It had been a great stay. The house, we think, was full of castle surplus with some op. shop additions. It was cobbled together to show what they had rather than in any stylish way. (job here for Kate McKinnon). Things were old, well used and a bit dusty. Photos of the daughters of the Duke & Duchess reminded you who owned the property but we think it was probably managed by staff.

Couple of odd things. The upstairs toilet lid wouldn’t stay up so you had to ‘get yourself ready’, lift the lid, then turnaround and sit before it fell down. Phew … if you got it right. No electric plugs are allowed in bathrooms in the UK. I had a hairdryer in the bedroom but it had a very short cord and the plugs were down near the floor and no mirror nearby. No coiffure for me but fun negotiating drying my hair whilst bending over and not being able to see what I was doing!

We were asked to strip the beds (not a problem but we thought it a bit cheeky given the price), empty the dishwasher (which was still running so we left it) attend to the rubbish - understand that one, etc etc. Finally we were away.Read more