Woodsome Hall, the Great Hall

Slide 6 – On one side is the huge fireplace some 14 foot in width, over which is carved on an oak beam in antique capitals a foot in depth: ARTHUR * KAY * BIATRIX * KAY Above this is a portrait of the daughter and heiress of the aforesaid Arthur and Beatrix Kay, who was married to Lord Lewisham through whom the hall came into the possession of the Earl of Dartmouth. His portrait hangs near that of his wife. The stone seats in the chimney corner, and the wide dogs and grating for the winter fuel recall the lines: Heap on more wood! The wind is chill! But let it whistle as it will We’ll keep our Christmas merry still” And we can imagine the Christmas revels and boisterous mirth around the blazing hearth. On one side of the fireplace a pair of bellows is hung. These would doubtless be used to revive the dying embers of the log fires on the hearth in olden times.