The gabled gatehouse of Doddington Hall is now the ticket office for this grade 1 listed building that sits within walled courtyards. The prodigy house or mansion and its gardens stand in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside, just outside the city of Lincoln and in view of the Cathedral.
This is a family-owned and run house. Whilst the rooms are still used, the family lives in what was the servant’s quarters. The dining room is used, certainly for Christmas dinner. This is not one of our cruise videos, but a house we visited on a day off, so these are just shots I took of the house. Jean has a day off!
We underestimated the time needed to enjoy this house and its grounds and overestimated the time we spent in Lincoln (a separate video). If our video snaps have excited you, then go to the Doddington Hall website, where they have endless promotional videos.
The country mansion was built between 1593 and 1600 for Thomas Tailor, who was the Recorder to the Bishop of Lincoln. The cathedral, which was commissioned by William the Conqueror after the 11th Century invasion, is said, by the incredibly helpful staff who explain every detail of the building, to have been the cash machine that funded Tailor’s build of his country mansion. It shows the wealth gained by the church during that period, just as the building of the cathedral shows the need the Normans had, to unify power further north by building the cathedral in Lincoln and transferring the ecclesiastical power from Dorchester to it.
The family’s wealth is such that it has never had to be sold. Having one constant owner must be the key to how well-kept, warm, and inviting it is. The building is full of great interest and is one of the homes we have most enjoyed visiting as cruise bloggers here at Doris Visits, trust me, we have seen more than a few noble houses of awesome scale right down to proud, ambitious heaps and completely rebuilt attractions like St Catherine’s Palace in St Petersburg. See our playlist of Palaces and Homes on the Doris Visits YouTube channel, and please, subscribe so you get to know when we post a new film.
The architect of this country manor was Robert Smythson who also built Longleat House, Hardwick Hall, and Wollaton Hall.
Many Elizabethan houses are E-shaped houses, which some say is an homage to Queen Elizabeth 1st.
A collection of fine china comes from China.
Doddington Hall features many tapestries that have had to be repaired. The work was done in a room set aside in the castle. The tapestries now hang on the walls of the bedrooms.
In 2014, the tapestries in the Yellow Bedroom were taken down for the first time in 252 years for conservation treatment.
There are many paintings of the family, and the bigger ones were painted on separate canvases and put together like a jigsaw. The faces are squares added to the background.
The ballroom upstairs has been a playroom and where the children’s slot car track ran. It overlooks the gardens on one side, and the cathedral can be seen the other side.
Donnington Hall is a hotel with several places to stay from the Stable Yard to the Shakespeare Cottage, The Elizabethan Brewhouse with stripped oak beams, the Bungalow, Grange Farm and Holly Farm which has a humble and quirky nature. It has gorgeous gardens, shops, and cafes. The audio guide was supported by a lottery grant. The Doddington Hall Conservation Charity was founded in 2006, and they are made possible with help from the Heritage Fund and their funders and supporters.
