The Old Vicarage Re-visited

Posted: 28/12/2019

We have many returning guests at The Old Vicarage but how many can say that they knew it from 60 years ago?!

A family group that stayed here last month had a real trip down memory lane. One of the party had actually spent time in the house as a young boy and was related to the Ellerton family who owned The Old Vicarage from the late 1930s until they sold it in 1976.

This is what they wrote in the visitors’ book:

“Back again after 60 years and what a difference! We thoroughly enjoyed staying at The Old Vicarage with all its comforts and facilities. Lots of pictures taken to share with Aunty Margaret (the last of the Ellerton children, who is now living in Australia). Thank you Julia for a very memorable weekend.”

Guests interested in the history of The Old Vicarage can refer to Mary Ellerton’s privately published book A Walk up the Parks, which gives a picturesque account of the family’s move from Park Lodge in Marrick down to the Vicarage.

We love the extract that describes their first view of the house:

The house rose out of the curving green pasture, a house in the middle of nowhere, a house in a world of its own. It was built of mellow grey stone standing in an acre of land bordered by trees of almost every description, oaks, elms, cherry, holly and even a tall monkey tree. The sun’s golden rays slanted through this screen of greenery giving the grey stone walls a warm glow.

Perhaps nothing too much has changed from the outside – except perhaps the monkey puzzle tree!