Speke Hall

View of Speke hall, with children playing badminton in the garden. The construction of the present half-timbered building began in 1530 in what is now a part of Liverpool. The author describes it as follows:

Speke Hall is among the best specimens of its class that yet endure in England. It is built of wood and plaster—the material employed in all the Lancashire houses of the sixteenth century. It was formerly surrounded by a moat, the remains of which are easily traced, although long ago filled up by gravelled walks and flowering shrubs in rich abundance. A stone bridge, with high piers, leads to the principal front; and the house is entered through a picturesque stone porch.