A Visit to Melbourne Hall

Most of the original medieval house on the site was pulled down and rebuilt at the end of the sixteenth century. In 1629 the estate was bought by Sir John Coke (Secretary of State to Charles I) and except for a period during the Civil War, has remained in the same family ever since although there have been three changes in name because of inheritance by  married daughters. Gill Weston guided us through the complexities of the family tree, aided by the numerous portraits on the walls, while explaining the evolution of the building. Sir John Coke made substantial alterations while his great grandson Thomas (Vice Chamberlain to both Queen Anne and George I) and then Thomas’ son George enlarged and extended it to designs by the renowned architect Francis Smith of Warwick. The light, elegant rooms in these eighteenth century parts contrast with the dining room which, with its original oak panelling and huge fireplace, was the Great Hall in old Sir John’s time.

George Coke never married so when he died the property passed to his sister and her husband Sir Matthew Lamb and so eventually to their grandson William, the 2^nd Viscount Melbourne, who was to become Prime Minister to both William IV and Victoria. Another estate had become the principal family seat but William Lamb’s wife Caroline, notorious for her passionate affair with Lord Byron, was banished from London to Melbourne Hall for a while in 1825. It was not until the estate was inherited by the granddaughter of William Lamb’s sister in 1905 that the family became permanently resident again. She was married to Lord Walter Kerr, Admiral of the Fleet, and it is their great grandson Lord Ralph Kerr who is the present owner living at Melbourne Hall with his wife Marie-Claire and their six children.

It is above all a home, filled with portraits, photographs, archives and memorabilia of nearly four hundred years of fascinating family history. There are beautiful antiques but also superb modern pieces of glassware and sculpture while alongside seventeenth century portraits hang striking modern paintings, many of which are by Marie-Claire Kerr herself, a renowned professional artist. Gill Weston was an excellent guide and we thanked her warmly for giving us so much information with clarity and humour. Then it was back to the tea-room for lunch before a stroll round the gardens.