Rufford Old Hall

Today's the day ................... to survive

We headed south today with Ron and Margaret - to tick off a few more 'True Links Golf Courses'  of the world.

We stopped for coffee in this magnificent place, Old Rufford Hall, built in about 1530 for Sir Robert Hesketh.  This is the Great Hall and it is the only bit that survives from the original structure.  A brick-built wing in the Jacobean style was added in 1661, at right angles to the Great Hall, and a third wing was added in the 1820s.

There is some evidence to suggest that William Shakespeare may have performed in the Great Hall. In about 1580, he had been sent, by his Stratford schoolmaster, to be an assistant teacher in the household of Alexander Hoghton at Lea Hall near Preston.  By 1585, he had joined a local theatrical group that was probably the 'Hesketh Company of Players'  who performed in the Hall about this time.

Whether he did or not, it was a sobering thought sending a tingle down the spine that this building had survived the ravages of time (nearly 500 years worth) - and was still standing proud ......................