The parlour

The hall

THE PARLOUR
The parlour – from the French word ‘parler’, meaning to talk – was like our living room. It would also have been the sleeping quarters for the male servants, whose job it was to protect the house.

THE HALL
The heart of the manor, originally the hall doubled as a dining room and kitchen. Until the late Tudor period, this was where the entire household ate and the lord of the manor received his visitors.

The bed chamber

The Kitchen

THE BEDCHAMBER
This room features a tester bed. Marked ‘EP’ and dated 1592, it is thought to have belonged to Welsh Bishop Edmund Prys, who first translated the Psalms into Welsh.

THE KITCHEN
The kitchen’s high ceiling kept it cool. This was good for those who worked there, and for preserving food. Meat was salted or hung to smoke in the chimney cupboard, and there is a bread oven for baking.

The garret

The solar

THE GARRET
The female servants probably slept here. Catholicism was outlawed for much of the Tudor period so the Priest Hole, a small opening in the side wall, sometimes hid a Catholic hiding in fear of the King’s soldiers.

THE SOLAR
With large windows, the solar was designed to benefit from sunlight and reserved for important family members. Access was via the unusual outside staircase, which leads to the garden.