🏰 17th Century English Magic Manor | Kentwell Hall

👵👴 An elderly couple in their 80s took us to Suffolk, next to Cambridge, for a visit... and in the end, it was the young ones who couldn't handle it and decided to head home at six. 🌄 Suffolk is truly delightful, with winding roads between quaint villages that might make you car-sick, but the ancient trees and rolling hills along the way are stunning. It's not as flat as Cambridge, and the countryside is beautiful and peaceful. The architecture is also quite distinctive, making it the birthplace of English painters John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough. 🏡 We first visited the grand estate of Kentwell Hall in the historic town of Long Melford. This "spirited" red-brick manor had the children exclaiming about wizards. This old town was a thriving center for wool trade at the end of the Middle Ages and during the Tudor period. The prosperous estate owner, the Clopton family, was also a local wool tycoon. 🏭 During the Industrial Revolution, the manor declined along with the family's fortunes and the tides of history, changing hands several times. The current owner bought it in the 1970s and restored it from a nearly abandoned state to its present condition. The family still lives in the manor today and opens part of it to visitors. Unlike other manors, the furniture, artworks, and antique pianos here can all be touched. The estate owner's children have even drawn cute "Mind Your Head" signs on some low door frames. 🌳 In the garden, gardeners are trimming the hedges, and the kitchen smells of wood fires. The farm and brewery are also full of fun and vitality... 🎭 Kentwell Hall is filled with the owner's humor and taste, and it now often hosts events that recreate life in the Tudor period. The garden and the house serve as natural stages, and stepping into them feels like leaving modern life behind. 🌳 In the garden, dead ancient trees are carved with various forms of ladders, as if climbing them could lead to another wonderful world. They stand quietly by the red brick walls, a "work" completed by people, nature, and time together. #CulturalAttractions #Suffolk #CambridgeSurroundings #Life #Manor #ChroniclerOfRomanticLife #CulturalLandscapes