MARKENFIELD OPEN DAYS 2013

4 to 19 May & 15 to 30 June

click HERE for further details

Welcome to Markenfield Hall…

 

It is an extraordinary privilege to live in the most unspoiled surviving early fourteenth century house in all England, and to be able to welcome you to it. Markenfield Hall is truly a special place.

 

Although we have tried to make it interesting by notices and explanations here and there, most of all it is our private home. That is why you will occasionally encounter family muddle, dogs and sometimes grandchildren racing about. It is supposed to be the most continuously inhabited house in the country, but we’re not sure if that is true.

 

It is a place with an extraordinary history, beginning with its entry in Domesday Book (1086) and continuing to the present day, sometimes peacefully, sometimes in considerable strife. It is now being gradually restored to something of the status and dignity for which it was built.

 

It has had its fair share of unhappiness over the centuries and yet it has an extraordinary atmosphere: peaceful and benign. Visitors often remark on that. We hope, when you visit, that you take away some of that peace with you.

  Image of the Week…

Have you been to the Hall and taken a picture that you’re proud of? Maybe you were at an Open Day, on a Guided Tour, or even at a Wedding? Why not send us a copy of your snap and we can make it Image of the Week. Let us know who took it and when so we can give it a credit.

 If you go down to the Hall today, you’re in for a big surprise! 

Sam the Swan patrolling the moat – taken during the one spring-like day of 2013

Markenfield Hall is proud to be a Member of the Historic Houses Association.  Please click on the logo to find out more.

The work of the HHA:  There are more privately-owned houses open to the public than those in the care of the National Trust, English Heritage and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland put together. Their owners bear the costs of preserving this important heritage, often at considerable expense. HHA owners spend some £139 million per year to maintain their buildings and contents (HHA Survey 2009) yet only a tiny percentage of the costs of major repairs are funded by public grant.

Around 1000  HHA Member houses are not regularly open to the public, perhaps because of their small size or remoteness. Nevertheless, many of these open occasionally, for charities, local events or for arranged group visits, such as by the Friends of the HHA. Each has an individual character that enriches the culture of our nation and informs our knowledge of our history and our sense of place. In many ways it is these smaller houses that need our help the most in terms of specialist advice and support. All are part of our heritage, and it is the HHA’s job, as their representative body, to advise them, offer technical and other support and to be their voice in the offices of Westminster, Whitehall, Brussels, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and City or County Hall.

Moated Medieval Manor House Markenfield Hall near Ripon in North Yorkshire opens its doors to the public for a limited time each year. On this site you will find information on how to visit and explore on one of our open days, how to join in one of our Mop Up Monday tours, how to book a guided tour, a wedding, a christening, an anniversary lunch or an other event. With its moat, battlements, beautiful private chapel and position deep in the Yorkshire countryside, it has been called “Surely one of the most romantic houses left in England”.  Did we mention we do weddings? We can do formal weddings, relaxed weddings, family weddings and – new for 2013 – vintage afternoon tea weddings.