This week, the beavers went for a Winter Stroll around Minster Lovell. We met at Minster Lovell Hall, a 15th century Oxfordshire manor house that lies in a beautiful rural setting beside the River Windrush.
This is a reconstruction of how the Hall might have appeared in the 18th-century (this image and the main image are courtesy of English Heritage).
Walking through the ruins, we firstly took a stroll in the fields at the back of the hall. During the stroll we stopped to talk about what we would do if we came across the scene of an accident, why it is important to tell an adult when an accident happens and how to treat minor cuts, scratches and grazes.
After our stroll, we returned to the Great Hall, the largest part of the remaining ruins, and played a game to find out five facts about Minster Lovell Hall. Given a choice of two answers, the beavers had to decide which one was correct and go to the correct end of the Hall. We learnt the following:
- There is a river close by and it is the river Windrush. The Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames which starts about 40 miles away in Gloucestershire and runs for just over 200 miles, going through London on its way to the Thames Estuary where it joins the North Sea.
- Minster Lovell Hall was built approximately 600 years ago in the 15th century, between the years 1430–1440.
- William, Baron of Lovell and Holand (correct spelling), who built Minster Lovell Hall was one of the richest men in England and he made his money through marriage and good fortune (not from being a YouTube influencer, which was the alternative option!)
- Ghosts are not real but some visitors to the Hall believe they have seen ghosts of a starving man and his dog and have heard voices and felt cold air without actually seeing anyone.
- King Richard III once came to stay at the Hall. Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. This was a battle between the houses of Lancaster and York and resulted in the start of the Tudor period. Richard III was the subject of a William Shakespeare play from which the famous lines “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” and “Now is the winter of our discontent” come. Richard III’s body was discovered in August 2012 during an archaeological excavation beneath the Grey Friars car park in Leicester.
Next we played a game of lighthouse in the Great Hall, which was great fun in the dark.
Lastly, we held an investiture ceremony for our four newest members and awarding a Chief Scout’s Bronze Award to one of our oldest members. Congratulations to these five members of our colony!
Here are some pictures taken by Owl during the evening:
Lastly, here’s an image where we think we may just have discovered a new ghost at Minster Lovell Hall!
