Speke Hall

Speke Hall is yet another Tudor black-and-white half-timbered house located in the North West, just outside Liverpool. Originally built in the late 15th century, it has been enlarged and embellished throughout the centuries so that today it resembles an old rambling house, complete with heavy, intricately carved furniture, dark, close rooms, and the musty scent of days long gone by.

Of particular note are the priest holes which date from the Tudor period, as does the Great Hall, and the curious features of the house specifically designed for surveillance: true "eavesdrops", used for spying on the neighbours, and spy holes located in the house proper, which afford views of the exterior halfway round the house.

The faded William Morris wallpaper in the north and west wings proved a delight to the Pre-Raphaelite fan in the family, particularly after learning that they were installed by the shipping magnate Frederick Leyland who leased the house in the 1860s. Leyland was a noted patron of the arts and commissioned work by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James McNeill Whistler, both of whom visited Leyland at Speke before later falling out with him.

Perhaps most enjoyable of all was our woodland walk which took us to the Bund, a high bank created to shield the house from the noise of the nearby Liverpool airport. As well as taking in views of the Mersey basin and North Wales hills, we managed to see an airplane take off overhead.

Date of Our Last Visit: August 2004