Visitors to National Trust’s Avebury Manor will be able to experience Christmas through the ages this festive season as each of the manor’s rooms is decorated to show how Christmas was celebrated during the era of its setting.
Guests occupying the Tudor parlour and bedrooms would not have celebrated Christmas as is done today, but would have instead marked the time feasting and decorating with extra candles and natural evergreens such as holly, ivy, yew and mistletoe. In Georgian times there would have been sumptuous feasts, and the Edwardian kitchen would have been filled with extra pies and game.
In one of the manor’s more popular rooms – the 1930’s drawing room – the Christmas tree would have been richly decorated, along with paper chains and paper lanterns, accompanied by the sound of contemporary music.
Avebury Manor, built in 1550s, was refurbished in 2012 by the BBC as the focus of a television series called ‘The Manor Reborn’ where each room was decorated as a different period to reflect the lives of the people who had lived there in the past.
Although this refurbishment involved many original artefacts most had to be brought into the property. This means, unusually for a National Trust property, that people are free to handle things and experience them in a way that is not normally possible.
House Manager, Amelia Bryan says: ‘This is the best time of year, so much work goes into making the house look amazing, but it’s all worthwhile. It’s great to see the children dressing up and sitting at the dining table in the Georgian room and imagining themselves in the 18th century. Many of our older visitors particularly love the Keiller drawing room because it’s decorated in the way they remember from their own childhood.’
Avebury Manor will be decorated for Christmas from 23 November until 1 January. More information about the seasonal events is available at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury.
