Sealed Knot members

Here are a few more photos of members of the Newcastle's Foote Regiment of the Sealed Knot Society, bringing history to life at Bolling Hall. (See also yesterday's post). 

I've always found what they do to be interesting. Years ago, around 1970, when the Sealed Knot was relatively new, I went to Wollaton Hall near Nottingham where there were hundreds of them staging a re-enactment of a Civil War battle, with horses and weapons and lots of noise! It was all rather exciting and I wanted to be a Royalist (Cavalier) lady, flouncing around in a long dress! Sadly the pressures of university meant that stayed as a pipe dream.

There doesn't seem so much flouncing around these days, but the members give an interesting and authentic glimpse into bygone days, and have a wealth of knowledge to share about life in those times. 

At Bolling Hall

The Marquess of Newcastle's Regiment of Foote, part of the Sealed Knot Society, were at Bolling Hall for a 'living history' event, showing people what life was like during the English Civil War in the 1640s.

Bolling Hall was a Royalist base during the Sieges of Bradford in 1642 and 1643. The inhabitants of Bradford, a small settlement at that time, were Puritans who for various reasons supported the Parlimentarians. It's said that the Royalist commander, the Earl of Newcastle, while staying in Bolling Hall, was woken three times by a ghostly girl in white, beseeching him to 'pity poor Bradford'. As a result, the town was spared a massacre by his troops. 

The Sealed Knot Society, founded over 50 years ago, is the largest re-enactment society in Europe. It aims to honour those who died in the many battles of the English Civil War and to educate the public about those wars, and the life and times of people in that period of history. They stage mock battles, and visit schools and museums to show people their costumes, weapons, cooking and household items, all faithfully recreating the period. 

Bolling Hall

I mentioned Bolling Hall in passing yesterday and it just so happened that a friend and I recently had a drive over there. It's just a mile south of Bradford city centre. It's one of the oldest buildings in Bradford, originally being a medieval stone pele tower, a fortified defensive structure, common in the North and Scottish borders. (The stone tower can be seen on the left of the photo above.) The tower has been added to over the years as the property became a manor house, owned first by the Bolling family and later the Tempests. It's now in the care of Bradford Council, as a museum, and is used extensively for school visits.   

The surrounding gardens are small but attractive, with box hedging and an avenue of cherry trees that look amazing when in blossom. 

Inside it is furnished to give an idea of the different periods in the house's history. The upper room in the pele tower would have been the solar, the main living space for the owner. It's a soaring room, but simply decorated, with a large fireplace, wonderful beams and plain wooden furniture.  

There is a small exhibit showing the type of clothes a Norman yeoman like the first owner of the hall, William de Bolling, would have worn. The hall at that time would have been a wooden structure. The stone tower was built, I think, in the late 1300s. (On the table was an array of armoured helmets from different periods.)

Extensions were added to the hall in later years and the large central room was the 'housebody', warmed with a roaring fire in the big fireplace.  This was where the household came together to eat, chat, sew, play games and entertain visitors. 

One of the bedrooms upstairs is known as 'the ghost room'. It was here, in 1643 during the English Civil War, that the Earl of Newcastle is said to have slept, prior to leading his Royalist troops to attack the Parliamentarian sympathisers who had been holding out, besieged, in Bradford. A white lady is said to have appeared to him, asking him to 'pity poor Bradford', so that he rescinded orders to kill all the townspeople. 

The room has a magnificent fireplace and an ornate plasterwork ceiling, believed to have been added by the Tempest family in the 17th century. It's decorated with the Bradford symbol of a boar, red Lancastrian roses (the family were Lancastrian sympathisers during the Wars of the Roses - Lancaster v York - in the 15th century) and vines to signify wealth. 

The most recent addition to the hall was a wing added in the 18th century, designed by the architect John Carr (who was involved with the much grander Harewood House). The amazing red bed on display was originally made for Harewood House by the celebrated furniture maker, Thomas Chippendale.