17th Century Christmas at Moseley Old Hall

Moseley Old Hall fireside — Winter in the parlour

Moseley Old Hall Knot Garden in snow — Moseley Old Hall's Knot Garden in snow

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. This year we are making a glorious marchpane centrepiece for our table, inspired by our peacock, Percy.

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.