If the original inhabitants of Battleford Hall at Fleet visited today, they probably wouldn’t see too much difference in the grand house built in 1854.
It’s perhaps a much warmer home, the new owners having put in central heating, and former servants would be absolutely staggered at the smartness of the kitchen.
However, Peter Day and Steven Holmes were closely guided by Fleet Rectory’s past when taking on the enormous restoration project after buying the hall in 2006.
Steven in particular, who formerly worked for the National Trust of Australia, was the visionary, confident he could restore the house back to its former glory.
He is also artistic and practical, casting ceiling roses from original Victorian designs and hand painting ceilings.
However, when they moved in, Peter says it was semi-derelict, some rooms never wired for electricity, some ceilings collapsed, a leaking roof, windows sealed shut with paint and wood worm and dry rot throughout.
Peter recalls: “We had water running down walls and the dry rot had got within a foot of the ceiling joists. Another two years and it would probably have been beyond repair.
“It was a lot worse than we thought. Had I realised how bad it was, we wouldn’t have done it.”
As they renovated the house, original features were kept, so for instance the kitchen still has 16 servants’ bells that are now working again.
Again, when they turned to the garden, the men were inspired by the ground’s history, so the original entrance gate and driveway were reinstated, rather than the cut through from the church.
Assisted by friends John Crozier and Sue Taylor, formal, rose and walled gardens have been restored, some of the work guided by an old photograph of the gardens that an elderly gentleman showed them.
The man visited the hall as a child, one of generations of children who took part in traditional village activities at Battleford.
That aspect of the hall has been restored too, with Peter and Steven running a May Fair in the grounds a couple of years after they moved in.
That was held for a few years, raising money for Fleet Preservation Trust, which in turns supports local good causes.
In 2011, the trust teamed up with Holbeach & District Horticultural Society to turn the event into a produce show.
John Crozier, a member of the trust, says: “We moved the emphasis to allow greater participation and in the first year had 120 entrants. Last year we had 240 and this year we hope to do the same, if not better.”
This year’s Fleet & District Country Show takes place at Battleford Hall on Sunday, September 1 (10am to 5pm).