‘Spice up Spring’ at Little Moreton Hall

If you plan to cook up a special dinner for Mother’s Day, a visit to Little Moreton Hall may provide some tasty tips for the recipe.

Tudor herbs and spices will be featured as a part of a ‘Merry March’ festival being staged at the spectacular sixteenth century hall from Wednesday 2 March to Sunday 6 March, which is Mothering Sunday.

Ready to use – Tudor gentlewoman Heather Swaine checks the condition of herbs at Little Moreton Hall (C) Alan Ingram National Trust

Jo Williams, from the hall, said: ‘Our Tudor gentlewomen will be showing and talking about natural additives, such as chervil and winter savoury which were used to flavour meals when the hall was a relatively new family home,’                                                                                                                       Still on the food theme, you may fancy planting a traditional variety of pea or bean and taking it home as a Mother’s Day present. Or, if you want to produce a home-made Mother’s Day card, you can try your hand at printing Tudor-style, using patterned woodblocks.

Jo added: ‘For most Tudor people, winter was a battle for survival. By this time of year they could look ahead to kinder weather, planting crops and seeing calves and lambs born. It was such a significant change that the Tudor New Year began in March, on Lady Day.                                                                                                                                                 On the other hand, the month of March was still part of Lent. There were strict regulations about what you ate and drank and what leisure activities you indulged in. So, another feature of our Merry March festival is ‘Jack o’ Lent’. He is a life size straw man that our younger visitors can bombard with bean-bags. In the past ‘Jack’ provided a chance to work off any frustrations caused by the restrictions of Lent.

‘Our popular free guided tours will also be available, outlining the fascinating story of the Moreton family and providing visitors with an insight into how this amazing house was built and how –against all the odds- it has survived.

‘March was a time for real optimism in Tudor times. Our visitors can capture some of those high spirits during the Merry March festival.’

Little Moreton Hall’s Merry March festival runs from Wed 2 March to Sun 6 March. The Hall is open from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 5pm. For more information visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/littlemoretonhall or call 01260 272018.