Gainsborough Old Hall is over 500 years old. It is located in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a beautiful town with lovely walks along the riverside. But the main attraction is the medieval hall not far from the river.  Our trip there was on a beautiful summer’s day. My husband and I were staying with our friends John and Jean and John drove us there.

The Old Hall has many fine features and is a great day out for the whole family. It is popular with school field trips too, as there are many activities for the children to get involved with.

This magnificent Hall with its medieval charm offers a cosy tea room which is decorated according to the hall’s history, so we stopped there first and I enjoyed a scone and a lovely cup of tea.

King Henry VIII visited Gainsborough with Queen Catherine Howard and there is a very interesting exhibit in the hall about King Henry and his many wives!

The Hall is big with lots of different areas to explore.  The Kitchen and Banqueting Hall are amazing and give a real insight into how people lived in those days.  The fireplaces are enormous and the central focus of most rooms for obvious reasons.  I found the ‘Ghost Corridor’ especially enthralling, though I didn’t spot any ghosts on this occasion. Apparently, there are a number of ghosts that walk the corridor in particular, the Grey Lady, who also haunts the tower!  The story goes that she was the daughter of the Lord of the Manor, who fell in love and planned to elope with a poor soldier. Her father found out and locked her away in the tower where she died of a broken heart. According to the legend, the girl’s spirit still waits for her lover to arrive.

The Gainsborough Old Hall is now a magnificent museum and one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in England.

A whole day out and well worth it!