subject: Speke Or Forever Hold Your Peace [print this page] Speke Hall is a great place to explore in Liverpool. Many Liverpool city centre hotels do tours to the area so be sure to check in for more information regarding this historic site.
The building was first built in 1530, with the Great Hall being the first area to be completed. Over the next few years, the western and southern wings and North Bay were added. By the 17th century, the north range had been placed and the hall was fully complete with no big changes having been made to it since.
The hall itself has an oak frame which is based on red sandstone. There is a now dry moat which runs around the hall whilst the house itself harbours a priest hole in a bedroom, a thunderbox toiler and an eavesdrop, which is a small hole below the eaves so that servants can listen in on conversations and wait for visitors who were coming through the open door. Hence this is where the phrase originates from. The Norris family owned the site for many centuries until one of the heiresses was eloped into the Beauclerk clan.in 1795, the house was then sold to the Watts which was then their possession until the last survivor died in the house in 1921. The house was then open for the market and was left in trust for about 20 years. During this period, the house was supervised by Thomas Whatmore who used to be the butler for Miss Watt. By 1942, the National Trust gained rights and responsibility to the site, and even though the gardens dated back to the 1850s, featuring two 1000 year-old Yew trees named Adam and Eve, the Trust helped to redesign the gardens slightly for public use. The home Farm was also renovated into a reception area, restaurant and gift shop, whilst the laundry was also changed into an educational room for schools.
Legend has it that the hall is haunted, hence it featured in Most Haunted in 2009 so if you are feeling brave enough, you wont need to book into a Liverpool airport hotel, hire a ghost night tour here and let your imagination run wild. You may just bump into Miss Watt
