Bolling Hall, Bradford

19th-20th June 2010

Bolling Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Bradford and it has a rather unique architecture. The first tower was built in the 14th Century but parts of the building have been extended or rebuilt in a contemporary style, so the building now has a range of styles from the 14th to 18th Centuries, complete with matching interior decoration. Bolling Hall is now a museum, owned by the local council.

Bolling Hall also has links with the founder of our Regimente, the Marquess of Newcastle. Following the victory at Adwalton Moor in June 1643, the Earl of Newcastle (as he was then) occupied Bolling Hall prior to the siege of Bradford. Previous attempts to take Bradford had met stiff resistance and the Earl had ordered swift justice for any resistance. Legend has it that he changed his mind, however, when he had a visit from a ghost the night before the siege, who told him to "Pity poor Bradford". The next morning he changed his orders, ordering death only for those that refused to throw down their arms and the vast majority of the population was spared.

Newcastle's Regimente of Foote was recently invited to re-enact the Earl of Newcastle's occupation of Bolling Hall, complete with various displays of contemporary life and it turned into a rather excellent event...

Setting up Camp

We started each day as the advance party, setting up camp in the grounds of Bolling Hall in preparation for the arrival of the Earl. Three tents were erected - an officer's tent, soldier's tent and a tent for the artillery, as well as more basic shelters for the washing and cooking.

The soldier's arms were arranged for easy access, in case they were needed.

A fire pit was dug and a fire lit, ready for the day's cooking.

We then settled down into day to day life, both inside and outside the house, until the Earl arrived.

Arrival of the Earl of Newcastle

Suddenly the cry went out that the Earl was nearby, accompanied by a flurry of activity as the soldiers quickly formed up for inspection.

The Earl himself was met by the master of the house and his wife - Sir Richard and Lady Sarah Tempest and was then presented with the head of household staff and the awaiting regimente.

After settling in, the Earl ordered that the regimente be paid.

The Pay Parade

Payment was often a novel concept during the English Civil War - large periods of time could pass with nothing more than a basic daily food and beer allowance.

The ordering of a pay parade was therefore a source of excitement for the soldiers as they formed up and waited for their names to be called.

The excitement swiftly turned to disappointment for many of the soldiers, when a bit of creative accounting and the imposition of a number of fines meant than many owed the regimente coffers as much as they were owed - sparking a number of protests that were swiftly stifled by the burly sergeant overseeing the events.

Other Events

The rest of the day was spent on day to day activitites for the regimente. The soldiers put on a number of displays of arms as they conducted training with pike, musket and artillery. The rest of the camp was busy cooking lunch, washing and mending clothes, whilst the ladies were sewing in the main house. There was even time for some games - the soldiers played cards, gambling with the little pay they received, and the children played a number of games, including a 17th century version of 'hoopla'.

Picture Gallery

We have many more pictures of this event, from both our regimental photographer and various members of the public that visited over the weekend and have provided us with their photographs.

Click Here to see more pictures of this event (with more to follow).

Reaction from the public

During this weekend our members had a fantastic reception from the public visiting the museum. We had a large amount of interest in all aspects of 17th century life and a fair number of the children of Bradford now have a picture of themselves wearing armour and posing with a pike...

And finally

A very special thanks must go to Heather and all of the staff at Bolling Hall for being incredibly friendly and welcoming to us all weekend, letting us sleep in the hall, allowing us to have our annual feast in the main hall and entertaining us with many tales of ghostly encounters.

It was a wonderful opportunity for us to put on an event within a setting relevant to our regimente and hopefully helped transport the public back to the history of Bolling in 1643...

(*) Picture kindly donated by and copyright Heather Millard. Click Here for more info and gallery.

(#) Picture kindly donated by and copyright Paul Richards. Click Here for more info and gallery.