Markenfield is proud to be a member of Historic Houses – an organisation that supports and represents privately owned historic houses across the UK. Each Monday they set a medieval theme for their members to discuss, and this week the theme is arches.
There is perhaps no more-iconic view of Markenfield than the one through its Gatehouse archway. It is the only entrance into the Hall, and therefore every single visitor to Markenfield Hall has passed through in the last several hundred years.
The view isn’t always as pretty as that…
This was the view in the post-snow melt mists last week. Different day, different direction, same mist…
And yes – we have got things stuck under it before now. Most famously the dustbin lorry became firmly wedged underneath it one day, necessitating a rescue mission. The answer seemingly was to deflate all four tyres, reverse it very gingerly and blow said tyres back up. This unfortunate incident left the centre arch stone dangling like a very large wobbly tooth, resulting in an emergency visit from English Heritage and yet another project for the late John Maloney (Stonemason.
Now to confess… those of you who know Markenfield well, or the historians, architects and all-round knowledgeable folk out there might be looking at this and going “but that’s not medieval” – and you’d be right. It’s a Tudor Gatehouse, built following the Turnpike Act that moved the old medieval road from where it ran, just under the battlements to the east of the Hall, to the route of the modern A61. But in our defence, it is an archway – and it does lead in to a rather magnificent medieval house and home – even if we do say so ourselves.
We have a moat 