Doddington Hall

Doddington Hall is still lived in as a family home, the current owners are Claire and James Birch.

Begun in 1595 by Robert Smythson, one of England’s foremost Elizabethan Architects, Doddington Hall was completed in 1600 and has never been sold or cleared out since. An example of a fine late Elizabethan Mansion, it is still a lived-in and much loved family home, alive with history and interest.

Originally built for Thomas Tailor, the registrar to the Bishop of Lincoln, Doddington’s mellow brick exterior with its walled courtyards has barely changed. However, in 1749, the Hall was inherited by John Delaval of Seaton Delaval in Northumberland and he carried out an extensive internal re-decoration, incorporating the light & elegant Georgian style still seen today.

In 1830 Colonel George Jarvis inherited the house from Sarah Gunman, heiress to the property, and the present owners are direct descendants of his.

Over 400 years of unbroken family occupation has resulted in fascinating collections of furniture, weaponry, paintings, ceramics, textiles, household objects, porcelain and a wealth of amusing stories all to be found in and around Doddington Hall.

A visit to Doddington offers a unique insight into family life through the ages and the challenges of looking after such an estate in the 21st century.

Doddington Hall & Gardens

Unicorn

10 Comments CherryPie on Apr 25th 2015

10 Responses to “Doddington Hall”

  1. Can’t wait to see what’s inside this big house!
    Have you been to Aston Hall?
    It’s actually very impressive!
    I think that’s also late Elizabethan?

    • CherryPie says:

      There were so many people visiting that I didn’t take any photos inside the hall :-O

      I have not been to Aston Hall (yet) despite its proximity to me…

  2. Sigrun says:

    Good morning, thank you so much. I have seen Doddington two years ago, it is such a wonderful house. Have you seen the house inside? We met the father of the owner, he was cutting the unicorn. I was there with a group. Do you know, if the house is open for single persons? May be that we will visit it in September.

    Sigrun

    • CherryPie says:

      Hi Sigrun, yes we did see inside the house, it is fascinating :-) You can visit as an individual, that is how we visited. We turned up on the day and bought a ticket. You would need to check the opening times/days before you visited though.

      How wonderful that you met the father of the owner, it reminds me of a visit to Hodnet Hall. I was sitting on a bench enjoying the garden view when the owner walked past and asked if I was enjoying the garden :-)

  3. Alan says:

    The house looks a bit austere; perhaps it’s the lighting which gives that feel. The gardens and the topiary look very neat, though.

    • CherryPie says:

      This is the back view of the house. I forgot to take the front view of the house which was to busy to photograph when we entered.

      The house, gardens and topiary are neat ;-)

  4. J_on_tour says:

    Although I’ve seen much in the surrounding area of Lincoln, this name seems familiar, maybe on a tourist leaflet I picked up. That’s an amazing piece of Topiary that may attract potential visitors as a stand out location from the crowd.