Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens

Description:

Ayscoughfee Hall, located in central Spalding, is a famous landmark on the fen tour and is protected and conserved as part of the cultural heritage of the Fens.

The house, currently a museum, was built for Richard Ailwyn in the fifteenth century.

A study of the roof timbers revealed that the house was built in one phase, with the majority of the present building completed in 1451.

The house is substantially unchanged from that period, and would be recognisable to a visitor from the fifteenth century.

Throughout its 600 year history the hall has continued to grow and develop, with each owner changing the building to represent their needs and the fashions of the time.

Once the home of the prestigious Johnson family, Ayscoughfee Hall spent much of its life as a private house for a succession of families, before being purchased by the people of Spalding during the early 20th Century.

The hall and gardens were bought on behalf of the people of Spalding as a memorial of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and was handed over to the town "free of debt" on August 9th 1902 in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII.

Since then it has served as a library, school, council offices and most recently as the district's museum.

The gardens include many fine features, including tall yew hedges, an early ice-house, and a fine ornamental lake, at the end of which sits a war memorial (opened in 1922) which was designed by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens.

Other features include a bowling green, tennis courts, aviary and a cafe.

A rustic bandstand, built to commemorate the Coronation of George VI, was built in 1937 but was destroyed by arsonists in the early 1970s.

The Friends of Ayscoughfee still arrange summer concerts on the south lawn during the summer months.

Opening Times:
Summer (April-September)
Mon : Closed all day, except Bank Holidays
Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri : 10.30am - 5.00pm
Sat/Sun : 10.00am - 4.30pm
Winter (October-March)
Mon : Closed all day, except Bank Holidays
Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri : 11.30am - 4.30pm
Sat/Sun : 10.00am - 4.30pm