Rufford Old Hall

A fine Tudor house and colourful garden, home to five centuries of Lancashire and Hesketh family history. Based in Rufford, Lancashire.

Be wowed by the Tudor Great Hall with its fantastic furniture, arms, armour, tapestries and the carved oak screen, a rare survivor from the 1500s. History springs to life in the Hesketh’s dining room, its food-laden table, lit candles and ‘fire in the hearth’ waiting to welcome the family’s dinner guests.

And did Shakespeare spend a short time here in his youth? There’s reasonable evidence to suggest that he could once have known Rufford’s Great Hall for a few months whilst still in his teens. Ask us about the evidence and decide for yourself!

Then relax as you stroll through Rufford’s Victorian and Edwardian gardens – and remember you’re only a few feet (or metres) above sea level – making Rufford one of the lowest lying National Trust gardens in England.