Bedfield Hall, Suffolk, All Hallows' Eve tour

GUISERS AND SOUL CAKES: A SPECIAL ALL HALLOWS' EVE TOUR

During this special seasonal tour, owner Timothy Easton will be focussing on the evidence from the use of the candle flame and fire traditionally associated with Halloween. He will demonstrate what has been gained from such a focus by examining the evidence at the time of All Hallows’ Eve. There are certain points in both the church and his own house where the resulting marks of flame touching can still be examined.

The parading of guisers going from door to door begging for alms is what gave rise to the modern forms of trick or treat from America. Black and orange are traditional colours associated with this day so you may wish to join your host by dressing in this colour combination as you make an exploratory tour around the church and house. A delicious tea will follow with reference to this event, including the serving of soul cakes with sweet wine.

Masked guisers making enough noise to wake the dead in C17th London and soul cakes traditionally marked with a cross

BEDFIELD HALL

The isolated 9th century site was moated around 1300 and is adjacent to the 11th century church. The earlier part of the house, built in 1422, was enlarged and modernised with two wings of 1620 and 1630. 

Until the Dissolution, the manor was held by Eye Priory. For the past 40 years, the house and garden have been the home and working space of artist Timothy Easton. Timothy is also an architectural historian who has been responsible for decoding scribed symbols applied to interiors that helped past occupants gain protection against the fear of malevolent activities. He is also a specialist on the painted surfaces of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century buildings. Here at Bedfield Hall, most of the rooms have their early seventeenth-century decorative schemes intact or restored.

One of the five bridges that connect the two-acre garden

The first owner-occupier since around 1100 was a wealthy farmer, Thomas Dunston (resident 1610-1657). He was responsible for the layout of the painted rooms, two enriched plaster ceilings and, in his new kitchen, a remarkable painted and inscribed ceiling with magical symbols to ward off witches. The sub-divided two-acre gardens around the house have five connecting bridges over the water. There are formal yew hedges and topiary with potager, shrub roses, iris beds and a woodland area. The tour starts in the church, continuing in the garden (weather permitting) and on into the house.

The tour includes the church, garden and lower and upper rooms of the house and is followed by seasonal refreshments.

Tickets £24 including refreshments

Visitors views:

• We both thoroughly enjoyed the visit which was both informative and entertaining. The owner was an excellent guide and host and his talk was delivered with a touch of humour. Neither of us felt that we were being lectured, which quite often happens.
• A huge thank you to Tim at Bedfield Hall. He was a lovely warm host and so knowledgeable and all our ladies really had a wonderful time. I cannot put across how much we enjoyed ourselves. Please convey our thanks to Tim, it was a perfect visit.
• Yesterday we went to Bedfield Hall, courtesy of Dolphin's Dart. We had a wonderful afternoon, the hall an astonishingly beautiful ancient home, a collection of interconnecting rooms on a very homely scale, filled with beautiful pictures and still very much in everyday use. Timothy Easton who owns and clearly loves the house spoke passionately of the house's history, its restoration and its place within the environment. And we were given tea and cakes! We had a memorable time.
• I just wanted to say what a fabulous visit we had to Bedfield Hall yesterday - Timothy is an exceptional host - so interesting and informative - and it is a beautiful place. The afternoon tea was also wonderful!
• First, many thanks for hosting such an enjoyable afternoon at Bedfield Hall. It was so informative and a great pleasure to be in such beautiful surroundings. Secondly, thank you for letting us know the name of your bamboo - the finest we have seen! Finally, many thanks for your kind offer of being willing to identify some of our marks over the fireplaces. We will be in touch!
• I just wanted to thank you for a lovely visit to Bedfield Hall on 14 April, the members thoroughly enjoyed it and the amount of detail and information was very good. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to your beautiful house.
• On behalf of all the members I'd like to thank you, and Vera, for the welcome, very interesting talk and the food! The setting of your house and your beautifully maintained gardens were a joy to behold.
• We were impressed at the superb amount of information you imparted on the church and the house. The tour of the house was the most comprehensive we have done and we have been visiting the Historic Houses since moving to Norfolk 17 years ago. Also we enjoyed the excellent tea - super visit.> I would also reiterate that we really enjoyed your tour and fascinating talk. I am so glad that your house found someone to look after it so well! Appreciating, restoring and preserving what has gone before us is a privilege, and in a much more minor way what we try to do with our old cars! (Car club visitor)

Please see our cancellation policy below:
If you cancel more than two weeks before the tour is scheduled to take place, we will fully refund your ticket money excluding any phone booking fees. If it’s less than 14 days before a tour, for any reason, we regret that we cannot refund your ticket money unless we can resell your ticket(s). If we cancel at any time, we will fully refund your ticket money. Although we make every effort to avoid it, sometimes a tour has to be cancelled at short notice due to circumstances beyond our control. In this case, we cannot accept responsibility for, or refund, any consequential losses, such as money spent on travel or accommodation.

The tour begins at St. Nicholas's Church.

Greeted or guided by the owner
Offers Historic Stays
No photography in the house