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You needn't cross the Atlantic
to enjoy an old English country house. A 15th-century Tudor manor house
built in Renaissance England a decade before Columbus sailed to America now stands above
the James River just outside downtown Richmond.
Agecroft
was purchased by Thomas C.
Williams, Jr., in 1925 when industrialization around Lancashire
threatened to destroy the house. Brick by brick and beam by beam, it was
taken down, numbered and shipped to Virginia where it was painstakingly
reassembled over the next three years.
A ten-minute slide introduction to Agecroft
provides details of this amazing move. Special architectural features and
unusual furnishings are pinpointed so that you will be sure to notice them
on your tour. Your first glimpse of Agecroft's interior is the great hall.
The enormous mullioned window in this room survived the Atlantic crossing
intact---not a single pane was broken!
As you tour the house you'll learn about
the life style of the Tudor and early Stuart period, 1485 to 1650. Rushes
cover part of the floor in the Great Hall. In centuries past, such long
reeds were often left for a month or more before they were swept up. Each
day more rushes would be added to cover the food and refuse on the floor
until they reached a depth of 12 inches or more. The rushes provided
insulation and moderated the irregularity of the rough stone floor. When
you see the rush lamp you'll learn the derivation of the expression "burning
the candle at both ends." Although not literally a candle, the rush was
formed into a wick and lit at both ends.
In the withdrawing room there are several
unusual chairs. The draught chair was a precursor of the wing-backed
chair. A three-legged chair attests to the difficulty of balancing on the
stone floors. Its massive legs provide a strong point of contact and the
stretcher base provides a place off the cold floor to put your feet while
seated.
The next room is the eating parlor.
Although there are forks on the table these were used only for the dessert
course. The apostle spoons on display reveal the derivation of yet another
expression "born with a silver spoon in your mouth." These spoons were the
traditional Christening gift for affluent families and bespoke a comfortable
background. The covered cups reveal a less comforting practice. Cups were
covered to protect diners from poison, not infrequently employed in Tudor
times to remove those who stood in the way of someone else's advancement.
The staircase to the upstairs rooms is a
work of art; it is not original to the house but comes from the priory at
Warwick. Upstairs you'll get another view of the great hall from the
minstrels' gallery.
Then you'll see the north bedroom. Here
again you'll discover a concern for safety. The Elizabethan bed has an
elaborately carved tester. Not merely decorative, it also protected the
slumberer from bits of falling plaster. Another rare reminder of earlier
times is the laundry counter on which the servants kept track of the
bedlinens and nightwear they collected from each room.
Each bedroom contains an elaborate and
quite different bed. In the second there is a 1629 bed from Bridgewater Castle
in Somerset. It is the third bed
that is really a stunner, a polychrome bed from the 1600s with its original
red, green and yellow paint.
After your house tour you'll step outside
to see the exterior architectural features. One window pane at the far end
of the terrace contains a royal reminder. On June 12, 1645, King Charles I,
used his diamond ring to carve the name William Dauntesey on it.
Before leaving be sure to allow time to
explore the gardens. The sunken garden is copied from Hampton Court. There
are three additional gardens you'll want to explore: the knot garden, formal
garden and herb garden. The latter contains only herbs grown during the
reign of Elizabeth I.
Agecroft Hall is open year-round Tuesday
through Saturday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and Sundays from 12:30 to
5:00 P.M. Admission is charged. For
more information, call (804) 353-4241 or visit www.agecrofthall.com.
Directions:
Take I-95 to Richmond. From downtown take Cary Street west to Malvern
Avenue on your right and Canterbury Road on your left. Turn left on
Canterbury Road. Canterbury Road merges with Sulgrave Road. Agecroft is at
4305 Sulgrave Road. There is free parking on the grounds.
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