Ripley Castle

The day before Easter, we went as a family to Ripley Castle. Ripley is a cute village, about 5 minutes from our house. We've been to the village before to walk around, shop, and have their "World-Famous Ice Cream," but as admission to the castle is kind of pricey, we thought we'd save that for a nice day. Well, the Saturday before Easter was a nice day, and they were having a chick hunt for the kids that day as well.

As it turns out, Ripley Castle isn't a castle at all. It is a stately home that has been in the Ingilby family for 700 years. The Ingilby name gets its fame from Thomas Ingilby who saved the life of King Edward III from the attack of a wild boar. Thus, there are boar images throughout the home, gardens, and village.
The upstairs of the home is still occupied by decedents of the Ingliby family. We were able to get a tour of the downstairs and walk throughout the gardens. (In the picture above, Timothy is pretending to be King Edward III, knighting Thomas Ingiby for saving his life.)

During the tour, we were able to see some interesting decor including a tea box (where only the finest tea was kept by lock and key!),and a bookie's chair (for cock-fighting!): the bookie would keep tabs of his bets on the table that folded up in the front, and they would keep the money in the swinging drawer under the arm.
We also got to see the library were Trooper Jane Ingilby (called that because she went out into battle with her brothers) held Oliver Cromwell by gunpoint for a night trying to protect her brother. In that room, we saw a recipe book from the late 1600s that included the head housekeeper's beer recipe. They actually used this recipe to help create a current beer called Crack Shot in honor of Trooper Jane. I don't think Ethan will try to brew this one!There was also a priest's secret hiding hole, where Catholic priest Francis Ingilby and his brother David hid when officers sent by Elizabeth I came looking for them. It was so well hidden that its existence remained unknown for almost 400 years.

After our tour of the castle, we took a nice stroll through the grounds, including the lovely walled gardens. The kids went on a chick hunt and enjoyed some time at the playground.
Now, where else in the world would you find a boar's head fountain?