An unforgettable black and white Tudor manor house, set in rolling Cheshire countryside.
Little Moreton Hall has to be one of the most iconic Tudor timber framed houses in the country. It's definitely quirky, largely due to the fact that over the years, the wooden floors and walls have warped and twisted, giving visitors an unusually tipsy sensation. But don't let that put you off. Little Moreton is a true gem in the UK's historical landscape.
If you want to imagine what it was like to live in an Elizabethan timber framed house, there aren't many places that can give you as good an impression as Little Moreton Hall. Building work started on the Hall in around 1450. Over the next 150 years, the Hall grew as the fortunes of it's owners the Moreton family increased. The fortunes of the family however never recovered after the Civil War, so the Hall remains as a wonderful example of it's type, unaltered for three hundred years.
What you see today is a collection of interlinked buildings, joined together around a small cobbled courtyard. However, nobody visiting the Hall can fail to be slightly overwhelmed by the timbering. Let your eyes wonder around the structure and you'll soon see that it's totally asymmetrical. Lines, curves, diagonals, uprights - it's an eclectic mix, which somehow manages to produce a romantic effect. People have likened it to a gingerbread house (although not the same colour!) and I'd have to agree, there is something almost fairy-tale about it.
Look closely at the frieze over the bay windows in the courtyard and you'll see an inscription to one of the Moreton owners, and also to Richard Dale, the carpenter who created the five-sided bay windows. It's a charming reminder of the age in which it was built.
The Tudor Knot Garden which would have been an original feature of the Hall has been recreated and helps to convey what life was like in Elizabethan times.
I'm not aware that it ever paid host to any particularly famous historical characters - do let me know if you know otherwise, but it's still got to be one of the most attractive houses to put on your list. Make a special visit, or have lunch there if you're travelling on the nearby M6 - it's a much better place to break your journey than the service stations. You'll feel wonderfully relaxed.
