Country Images Magazine North Edition November 2017 | Page 29

around Melbourne Hall
At the far end of the yard, the Hall’s old kitchen block is now a cosy tea
room, a far cry from the time when dishes had to be kept warm on their way
to the comfort of the family dining room.
Beyond the Hall and its ornate gates (private), the parish church is one of
the fi nest and most complete Norman churches in England. Built in the
shape of a cross with a central tower, and two small unfi nished western
towers with a fi ne doorway between them. One row of Norman pillars
support the roof over the nave. Th ey are carefully copied by a second row
erected in the 13th century a few feet beyond the originals in order to widen
the nave. Unlike many old churches, subsequent builders have added to
the original without detracting from the original Norman style; even the
Victorians in their zeal for ‘improving’ churches managed to carry out work
without altering the designs of the original mason-architects.
Overlooked by the South Front of Melbourne Hall, the pool is said to be
a fl ooded quarry which provided stone for the church and, it is said, for
Melbourne Castle to the north of the town centre. How true this may be is
open to conjecture, because so little remains of a fortifi cation once governed
by Sir Ralph Shirley, who fought at Agincourt. By the time of Charles I, the
castle had fallen into ruin, and now its only remains are a fragment of a once
massive wall.
When Australian visitors arrive they must usually be taught how we
pronounce the name of the town. While we place emphasis on the second
part of the name, Mel-bourne, their version while still spelled the same
way, is pronounced Mel-burn. What became one of the chief cities in the
Commonwealth was named aft er Queen Victoria’s fi rst Prime Minister.
Prior to being ennobled, he was plain William Lamb MP who took his
title from his birthplace, becoming the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Later
Melbourne Hall passed to the Kerrs who still live there. One of their
ancestors was Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, who had amongst his honours, the
Royal Humane Society’s Silver Medal awarded for jumping overboard from
his ship to rescue a man who had fallen into the River Tagus near Lisbon.
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