17th Century Christmas at Moseley Old Hall

Moseley at Christmas glows with lit fires, the smell of spices, the hall decked with greenery and more marzipan than you can eat. Starting with Stir Up Sunday and moving through to the celebrations of our 17th Century Christmas this is the traditional way to make merry and feast.

Moseley keeps Christmas to the very best standards of 1651. This is a celebration of our time of plenty, the only time we have a rest, even the spinning wheel is tied up with ivy to stop the spinner working. Every year we have a glorious marchpane centrepiece for our table, inspired by something at Moseley.

A very handsome marchpane peacock
Marchpane Peacock Centrepiece at Christmas 2017
A very handsome marchpane peacock

We have no Christmas tree (Prince Albert had not yet brought this tradition to England) and no Father Christmas, but we are not Scrooge-like. We make jumbles, pomanders and pot pourri as gifts for our friends and family and light the fires to make toast spread with lashings of cinnamon butter. You can see all this and more at our 17th Century Christmas weekends:

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 December 2019 - See our preparations for the festive season!

Saturday 14, Sunday 15, Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 December 2019 - We are joined by Merrie Noyse, who will make Christmas extra special!

Spinning wheel bound with ivy so that spinners could have a Christmas break
Spinning wheel tied with ivy for Christmas
Spinning wheel bound with ivy so that spinners could have a Christmas break
Moseley Old Hall peacock
Moseley Old Hall   Staffordshire

Marchpane

Why not make a 17th century style marchpane centerpiece for Christmas? We are making one inspired by our peacock.

Read the recipe
Jumbles baked at Moseley Old Hall
Moseley Old Hall   Staffordshire

Moseley Old Hall's 17th Century Jumbles

Delicious melt in the mouth 17th century treats. Perfect as a little Christmas gift.

Read the recipe