Post Script to Previous and a Christmas present suggestion

I've found my Bramall Hall guidebook now, so I can post a couple more pictures of the table carpet and the Painted Chamber. The pictures still don't do justice to the pieces, but you can get more of an idea.
The carpet (left) as it says in the perhaps difficult to read blurb under the photo was commissioned in 1560 by William Davenport III, owner of Bramall Hall, and would have covered the high table in the Great Hall. The border depicts the shields of allies, and commemmorates the marriages of the Davenport family between 1397 and 1560. The heraldry in the centre of the panels are the arms of Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and the Earl of Derby. The background design is of poppies but the red has faded over the centuries. It still doesn't say if they would have eaten off it, but I suspect not!

Here are two more pictures of the Painted Chamber. The colours still aren't vibrant enough, but imagine the walls covered in all this kind of thing. It gives great richness and texture.





Finally, how about that Christmas present for the history buff in your life, or a child in need of a cuddly companion. A friend pointed this one out to me.... http://tinyurl.com/2l4q3h