England: Week 4 - Oxbourgh

After Ely Cathedral we made our way over to Oxbourgh House. This home is actually still lived in by the family. They live in half of it and the other half is open to the public. I don't think the "family" is there often but the sons still own it.

It has a stone wall fence.

And a mote. They are really protected. ;)

A cute little kid.

View from the top towards the garden.

I really like stairs. :D

One neat part of the house was the Priest Hole. During the time when King Henry VIII was around and catholics were persecuted the wealthy families that were still very catholic would hide priests in their homes. The entrance to this 'hole' was under chamber pots. It is actually one of the biggest Priest holes known others were the size of a coffin. They would stay their for days on end until it was deemed safe to come out. Pretty neat!

I know you are not allowed to take pictures inside the buildings because of rights but between us we snuck a few.  Sinners - I know.

No trip would be complete without looking at an old church. This one is falling apart but it has some rare features. The tomb on the top left is made from Terracotta. One of the few still around. It was really quite beautiful.