It
was a warm sunny Saturday morning in June when
my granddaughter Grace and I packed our lunch
and joined 30 other members of the History Group. We
boarded the coach which safely carried us to
Ingatestone Hall in Essex. The hall sits proud just
beyond the village of Ingatestone.
Ingatestone Hall is a Tudor manor
house built by Sir William Petre (pronounced Peter). In
1535 William, a young lawyer from Devon, was given the
task of visiting the Monastic houses of Southern
England, drawing up records of their possessions, with a
view to persuading surrender to the king. Among the
abbeys he visited was that of Barking and immediately
loved the Steward's house, which stood in the
grounds. In 1539 William purchased the property
and set about building the Tudor house which more or
less is what we see today. This could have been
construed as plundering church property but Pope Paul IV
exonerated Petre from all charges as he endowed the
foundation of an almshouse for the poor.
We arrived at the gates where
two guides were waiting to guide us around
this Grade 1 listed building. As
we strolled through the Gatehouse this imposing
slightly mellowed building ahead enriched us with
almost 500 years of history. The Gatehouse has a
one-handed clock under which are the words Sans
dieu rien which means ‘without God
nothing’. This is the motto of the Petre family who were
and still are Catholic and have triumphed through very
difficult times.
As the tour progressed we were to
learn that the Petre family still own Ingatestone and
live in part of the property. Grace mentioned how
squeaky the floors were. We were shown two Priest
holes, which we decided must have been terrifying for
the clergy who were forced to hide here during the 16th
and 17th centuries.
In 1561 Queen Elizabeth visited and
stayed at Ingatestone with her entourage which cost
considerably more than the price of the property when
purchased for £849 12 shillings and 6 pence.
Sir William Petre died in 1572 and his son John
became the 1st Baron.
It was said of Sir William Petre that
he was a just and fair landlord, able and devoted in his
public service and a kind and generous father. It is now
said that the ghost of Sir William walks the long
gallery!
Grace and I thought the house was
dark, with lots of oak panelling. There were no
corridors - each room led to the next as is common
in Tudor house design.
Robert Petre the 9th Baron was a
leading figure in the movement for Catholic
emancipation. I feel Sir William Petre has
passed his strength of character and fairness through
his descendants.
After lunch we wandered through the
gardens and came across a secret garden gate which we
passed through. We walked down a dapple shaded path
which was cool and so quiet that for a minute or two we
wondered where it would lead. But we were soon walking
along the Cedar Walk and back to the house.
As we sat chatting to our fellow
members it was revealed, with much surprise, that two of
us were in the same class at school miles away from
Martham. I met Irene who went to my primary school
in Hayes, Middlesex. It made us wonder - was the
Ghost of Sir William Petre at work continuing his
family’s endeavours to unite people? Or was it just
Grace and me being a bit
whimsical?