This past weekend, I visited Lyddinton Bede House in Rutland near Leicestershire. The property is managed by English Hertiage and is Grade I listed. It was converted from an almeshouse into a "bede house". A "bede house" is a place where people who could not contribute due to some disability or widowhood could live in, but they had to be of good character and adhere to Christain principles; they had to participate in daily Christain services and prayers. There were two women allowed to live here and twelve men. They would have to do some work to remain (similar to an almeshouse); the women would look after the men, and the men would do work on maintenance of the grounds.
The bede house belonged to the Cecil family, who was notable as an advisor for Elizabeth I, and people in the house until 1930. On the wall outside the church and bede house is the "Bishop's Eye" watch tower is located.
St. Andrew's church is next to the bede house, and I went to look inside it.
The house was a favourite, and the furnishings and detail of the Great Hall, which are photographed in the series below, made this a firm favourite of the bishops.
There were two rooms for the women, and the below is one example showing how it would have looked in th 19th century. They had to care for the men, and they had to be over 45 years of age and widowed. In the room was an audio clipping that details the true story of a young girl who went to the house on Christmas day to meet the women who lived there.
I explored the upstairs, which contained smaller rooms and visitors could see how the building was constructed with the exposed beams.
The next floor below was the most beautifully decorated and would have been the bishop's room. There is decorated woodwork in this large hall. This is where prayers would have been recited. On the other side of the hall are the private quarters of the bishop.
The private quarters of the bishop are included below. Henry VIII and Catherine Howard stayed at the house during a trip north.
The rooms of bedesmen were located down an outside passage.
Rooms were small. There were many stories of corruption of bishops and others, and sometimes the place was not run correctly. The stories can be listened to on audio devices at the house. The bedesmen did get a salary, but it was very low. Many did manual labour for others in the community too.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this English Hertiage property.
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