A couple of weeks ago I received a wonderful email from a lady who was actually born at Badmondisfield Hall in 1965! After exchanging messages she very kindly sent me a few of her family’s photos from the time and generously said that I could share them with you all including a few of her memories. Huge thanks for letting me share, they are wonderful!

“I don’t know what made me google Badmondisfield Hall yesterday, I do every now and again. I was stunned by your detailed history and in awe of your research.

So my mum and dad were Jenny and Michael Butterworth, he was an author. They sold it to the Prebbles Family in 1972.

My parents bought it in the 1960s and were there when they had my older brother Nick and they were in their 30s. They went on to have 4 daughters, I was born there in 1965. We left in 1972. All my first memories of the Hall. We were there for 10 years.

There used to be an ancient yew hedge we would climb in and apparently that was taken down we heard…

I remember the day we put a pike in the moat, we used to swim in the moat and would come out in leeches.

There were bats in the top landing.

Mum used to ring the bell, it was like a church bell, to call us in.

When they first went to look at the house, Johnny the lovely one-eyed dwarf gardener opened the front door, he was holding a black cat with one eye and they thought we must buy this place!!

I went past the house in the 1990s after the fire, I had no idea, it had been the week before! Back then you could see it from the road (I think because of the yew being taken down?) and it was like being stabbed in the chest.

We have lots of pictures of the inside and outside, as dad was also an Artist and a very good photographer, there are lots of cine films.

It was a STUNNING house and of course, we all dreamed of buying it back. We heard a lot was changed after we left, sadly”.

I shall be back with Chapter 8 of The Holworth Collection very soon.

Till next time then……..