Yuletide

Throughout the centuries, Lydiard House and Park has celebrated the Yuletide season in its own unique way, and left a charming and poignant collection of memories to remind us of Christmases past. We have enjoyed working with our Archive partners in bringing together this Yuletide Collection, browsing through the digital records to curate a vibrant representation of the people of Lydiard Park and the parish of Lydiard Tregoze. From the lords of the manor, to the people who worked on the estate; from the American servicemen during WWII, to the locals who enjoyed a traditional Boxing Day walk in the Park, memories abound of Yuletide at Lydiard.

We found shopping lists from the 1600s – including a list of New Year’s Gifts from 1663 (goats, sheep, or nutmeg anyone?) and whimsical Christmas Cards sketched by Lord Bolingbroke in the 1960s. We discovered what Christmas Day was like on Elliot Woolford’s farm, reading his diaries written a hundred years ago. We added to our collection with Christmas bell peals from St. Mary’s Church, and a Christmas Eve ghost story featuring the Golden Cavalier. And, surprise! We even found four-hundred-year-old turkeys – in the Abraham Van Linge painted glass within the House.

We hope you have as much fun browsing this collection as we did curating it. And if you have any memories of your own of a Lydiard Christmas season, please share!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and healthy Yuletide.

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Yuletide

Featured Items

Turkey images (2) in Lydiard's painted window, early 17th Century
Turkey images (2) in Lydiard's painted window, early 17th Century

The striking painted window in Lydiard House conta...

The Ice House
The Ice House

An ice house was a highly desirable component of a...

Christmas purchase lists - food and gifts, 1662-63
Christmas purchase lists - food and gifts, 1662-63

Christmas is seen as a time for celebration, fun a...

Christmas at Lydiard Park - a wartime ghost story narrated by the author, Elizabeth St.John
Christmas at Lydiard Park - a wartime ghost story narrated by the author, Elizabeth St.John

A heart warming and atmospheric Christmas story re...

Lydiard Mummers Play
Lydiard Mummers Play

'Here come I, old Saucy Jack,With all my family at...

1921 Christmas diary entry, Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze
1921 Christmas diary entry, Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze

One hundred years ago, in 1921, local farmer Ellio...

Photograph of Nativity Event, St. Mary's Church, 2017
Photograph of Nativity Event, St. Mary's Church, 2017

Members of the team and congregation at St. Mary's...

Jacob the Thrush by Vernon St.John 6th Viscount Bolingbroke, 1967
Jacob the Thrush by Vernon St.John 6th Viscount Bolingbroke, 1967

Jacob the Thrush was written by Vernon St.John as...

Medieval glass at St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze: Virgin Mary
Medieval glass at St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze: Virgin Mary

The most exquisite remnant in this window is in th...

Christmas Cards on nature theme, drawn by Lord Bolingbroke, 1960's
Christmas Cards on nature theme, drawn by Lord Bolingbroke, 1960's

A lovely selection of hand drawn Christmas Cards o...

The Miles Charity by Rev. Brian Carne
The Miles Charity by Rev. Brian Carne

Blankets for Christmas In 1839 the Reverend Richar...

Lydiard House Christmas with Janet Porter and Mary Golding, 1990's
Lydiard House Christmas with Janet Porter and Mary Golding, 1990's

Since the early 1990's Lydiard House is traditiona...

Bells at St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze audio, 2021
Bells at St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze audio, 2021

The bell ringing team of St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoz...