Ordsall Hall

Ordsall Hall is an old house that looks like a BBC filmset. But has only a tiny garden, and hosts weddings and events. That would, in some cases, be enough not to list. But Ordsall Hall is not the usual ‘old house venue’. The garden is organically managed, there’s usually artwork about, and activities like ghost nights and archery. The house is also unusual as a drop‐by museum. For example, when I arrived welcoming boards stood at the entrances. The signage has been designed to fit the style of the house—set into patterns, printed on wooden boards, and so forth. Because the house works, the floor is modern wood, the doors are sealed fire doors, and has a lift. The set of old into new is creative—a ceiling window into a roof‐space, modern stairs that assume old styles, a board about the council vote that saved the building, an exhibit of time‐lapse photography about the restoration of a painting, side‐by‐side with the paintings—I wish more house museums used the full timeline, and not the call‐card of age. Ordsall Hall grounds may be too small to unload a family, but check the events schedule because it’s a marvel. The house opens on unusual days and, as a house visit with a half‐medieval hall and old/modern garden, it’s an original.