kirby hall

This is lovely park with the remainder of Kirby Hall left to explore. It is perfect for family picnic :)

No, sadly, Queen Elizabeth I didn't sleep here! It was the great hope of its owner, Sir Christopher Hatton 'The Dancing Chancellor' that his beloved queen would visit, but he was forever disappointed.Kirby Hall is one of Northamptonshire's most hauntingly beautiful houses. It is huge by any standard and only part has a roof now! But from the moment you approach the outer courtyard you know you are visiting somewhere very grand. It is steeped in history and the recent improvements have served the visitor well. Children are well catered for with exhibits and the audio guide is excellent. A highlight for most people has to be the magnificent garden. Don't expect pretty flowers and shrubs, there aren't any. Instead Kirby has an enormous parterre that has been lovingly recreated to a 1690 design with geometric clipped lawns and gravel paths. It's an important example much loved by garden historians the world over. But of course it is the house itself that most people come to see. If time permits, visitors from far away should try to see Christopher Hatton's other palace at Holdenby near Northampton. Both houses have suffered from being not quite as they were in Hatton's time, but both have interiors and, especially, gardens worth seeing. If it is not possible to get to Holdenby, then check opening times for Deene Park, just a mile or so from Kirby. It is a beautiful early 16th century house, home to the legendary Earl of Cardigan of Charge of the Light brigade fame. Important to check opening times for both Kirby (English Heritage website) and Holdenby (privately owned)

Very imposing from the outside and well maintained by English Heritage. Kirby Hall oozes history in every room. Sadly the years haven't been kind to Kirby Hall and roofs and windows are missing which makes for a rather cold visit in winter. However, the audio guide is excellent with plenty of information about the Hall and its various residents. Despite visiting on a Sunday afternoon it was very quiet so easy to wander around and take time absorbing the history of the place. Small car park and very muddy. One unexpected bonus was the peacock which wandered the grounds and followed us back to the car though he may have been more interested in our picnic than us!

We used to go Conkering in the driveway up to Kirby Hall loads of them come autumn and the trees are still there.There is a charge to go into this historic hall and I remember as kids going for ghost walks with others when there was no charge many moons ago.If you have an interest in history then you will enjoy it and the gardens were lovely summertime.Worth a visit if your into history .Good parking.

From a distance this looks like a lived in castle. On entering you discover it is actually a part ruin, part hgrand mansion. Extraordinary. Give it a visit, well worth it.

There seems to be a general rule that while National Trust preserve buildings and contents, English Heritage preserve the buildings. In the case of Kirby Hall the building may be a shell, with lots now missing, but there is still plenty to see with some striking (if empty) rooms, displays to explain some of the building techniques and a formal garden. This is a building from the age of symbolism, and you'd do well to have enough of a guide to help you find your way around it (if not quite as symbolically laden as the nearby Triangular Lodge) and the free audio guide will do that for you. On a sunny day it's magnificent and on a stormy one the dramatic bay windows look even more like the stern of a galleon under sail. And don't forget the peacocks.

A chance visit on an overcast Saturday in November introduced us to this interesting building dating back to the time of Elizabeth. The free audio guide helps you imagine what it must have been like through the ages and gives snippets of information. We now know why Drakes ship was called the Golden Hind. It is not commercialised and only part is roofed, the majority is not, and access to the upper floors is by stairs. There is no café and limited toilets. If you bear this in mind when visiting you will have a fascinating time exploring this building and gardens

What a fascinating place. The atmosphere is wonderful we had it to ourselves for an hour, didn't want to leave. Shame about the loos though.

What a hidden gem right on my doorstep ! we thoroughly enjoyed this place and will visit again soon. The architecture was amazing and it has links to The Stafford family and Staffordshire btw its not a pretzel its actually The Staffordshire Knot lol The hand held the tour guide was brilliant, so much information. Earphones would be a great idea block out noise from the speedway. what a stunning house this was in its heyday, its still stunning part house, part ruin ! kids thoroughly enjoyed running around this place and they used hand held guide easily. Beryl the desk volunteer was lovely ! such a nice lady thank you for your time :)

We were staying in Maidwell looking for something to do for a few hours before visiting relatives in Northampton. Discovered Kirkby Hall on the English Heritage website. What luck, despite being a partial ruin it really was a fascinating place. The audio guide was very good and added atmosphere and information to the trip. The place must have been stunning in it's pomp. Oh for time travel. You also get to see how the place was constructed, wooden stairs made to look like stone. Pine panels painted to look like marble, how canvas was applied to walls to take wall paper. Arguements go on about conserve or restore. I think the more they can roof over and restore the better. Keep the old skills alive and put to good use.

We live in the area and have visited here twice before, but the last time would have been pre-2000! Wow - what a difference! We were welcomed by friendly English Heritage staff and given the complimentary audio tour devices. I found these very easy to use, with exceptional clarity and the right amount of excellent info on them. This hall is a ruin basically, but has some inside rooms intact still - mostly the very large and interesting ones. The amount of work that has been carried out in the hall and the gardens in the last 10 years or so is very impressive. With the audio commentary the place seems to come to life, and you can experience the tastes of different ages gone by. Bearing in mind that some of it is open to the elements, don't go on a wet day! The entrance charges are extremely reasonable - only £5.40 for over 60s. On a nice day you can picnic in the grounds.

Partly in decay but very interesting architecture for a Tudor house. No cluttered with furniture for all seasons but still gives some idea as to how people lived.No roof on the front part!

So many "old" buildings have been altered and improved over the centuries, but Kirby Hall stopped growing (inside and out) some five hundred years ago.It's a great place to explore, with the complimentary audio tour as a guide.Because the visitors are few and far between, compared to most places, you don't feel hassled - everything is so peaceful.Take a picnic, to complete your visit.

I probably wouldn't make a trip here from a long way away just to see this, in all fairness, but you could potentially combine it with a trip to Lyddington Bede House, which is just over six miles away and is also run by English Heritage, and/or Apethorpe Hall which is less than ten miles away from Kirby Hall and again is an English Heritage site.Part of this property still has a roof but quite a lot of it hasn't, and the rooms aren't really furnished apart from a few descriptive boards. The biggest sadness for me is that there are so many alcoves throughout this site that are clearly designed to have beautiful sculptures in them but don't, although they have put a few out in the parterre garden. The gardens are quite small and the parterre garden has been recreated based on a design similar to the one at Longleat, as the layout of the original parterre garden at Kirby Hall is unknown.The toilets are in a Portakabin which isn't overly salubrious, but they are clean, they smell fine and there is hot water and electric hand dryers provided. The only food and drink available seemed to be a vending machine and whatever edible items the souvenir shop sells. I wouldn't really want to walk to this place, it feels as if you drive for miles through the countryside then when you eventually arrive at the gates of the estate you still have a single-track tarmac drive to navigate, and that feels as if it goes on for about a mile.As usual with English Heritage there aren't many staff around, but those that are there are very friendly and enthusiastic. The bonus of not having oodles of staff everywhere is that it only costs six pounds for entry. It took us about an hour in total to view the house and the gardens. If this site could be fully restored I'm sure that it would be quite spectacular, but I'm also certain that it would cost an absolute fortune to do so. There were a few peacocks and peahens around, which added a little colour to the place.

Kirby Hall is an amazing piece of history. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The grounds are very relaxing and peaceful. The audio tour is very good. There isn't a cafe there but this is a perfect place for a picnic.