Type Baronial hall In use 15th century-Present | Owner Proby Family Phone +44 1832 280468 | |
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Open to
the public end of May through September (see website for schedule) Address Elton Hall, Elton, Peterborough PE8 6SH, UK Similar Longthorpe Tower, Fotheringhay Castle, Nene Park - Peterborough, The Prebendal Manor, Burghley House | ||
Elton Hall is a baronial hall in Elton, Cambridgeshire. It has been the ancestral home of the Proby family since 1660.
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The hall lies in an 3,800-acre (15 km2) estate through which the River Nene runs. The building incorporates 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th century parts and is a Grade I listed building.
Elton Hall is two miles (3 km) from Fotheringhay Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in 1587.
The Victorian gardens have been skilfully restored in recent years and contain a knot garden, a new rose and herbaceous garden, fine hedges and a gothic orangery built to celebrate the Millennium. The gardens are promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
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The interior
The south front (garden) incorporates the 15th century tower and chapel which were built at the time of Henry VII. In the 17th century a new wing was added to the west.
The Marble Hall and main staircase were designed by Henry Ashton and are remarkable examples of a mid-Victorian revival of mid-18th-century style. The Drawing Room, the largest room in the house, was formed from the medieval chapel around 1740. The 18th century ceiling with its enriched cornice and frieze remains, but the present decoration dates from 1860. The Dining Room was built in 1860 and was also designed by Ashton. The three large Gothic windows are exact copies of the windows that were in the north wall of the medieval chapel.
The Library contains a large collection of books representing a continuous interest from the time of Sir Thomas Proby. From the Main Library a short passage leads to the Inner Library situated in the medieval Sapcote Tower. Other rooms of special interest are the Lower and Upper Octagon rooms, the Yellow Drawing Room and the Ante Dining room. The current chapel was formed from part of the undercroft of the Sapcotes' chapel and has 15th century vaulting.