PARROX HALL NEWS & FEATURES

Brian Marshall’s new book 'From the Fells to the Sea' is now available. A comprehensive collection of the essays on local history that he publishes each month in the Over Wyre Focus magazine, it be will be on sale at £7.50 and part of the proceeds will go towards restoration and conservation projects at Parrox Hall.

The new book will be launched at a book signing party at Parrox`Hall, which as Brian says, “is an appropriate venue for such an occasion as it has been for more than 600 years a focal point of local affairs as have its occupants, whose names occur so frequently in the history of Over Wyre.”

In ‘From the Fells to the Sea,’ Brian Marshall deals with a broad sweep of Amounderness life embracing archaeology, Roman history, religious matters, architecture, genealogy, place names and family names and includes topics as unlikely as medieval ploughing and the production of Lancashire cheese. This book is a must for anyone interested in the comings and goings of Amounderness folk, whether the tales of a Pilling postman of the early 20th. century or a series of unexplained 'graves' of 2,000 years ago. If you would like a copy, please call 01253 812 017 or 01253 812 209 and leave your name, address and telephone number.

Things are moving in the woodland on the Parrox Hall estate and it’s not just the plentiful wildlife. Volunteers have been helping both to develop a management plan and to improve the condition of the woodland. There is even a new project to open up some woodland for the benefit of local schoolchildren.

“We’re in the process of preparing a management plan for the woods, which will give us a sound basis to maintain and improve the ecological and recreational value of the woods, from simply thinning out some of the undergrowth to allow more light through, to planting new woods and even some footpath creation,” explains local volunteer and environmentalist Gordon Honeyford.

“With this in mind, we’re looking to open a forest school at Parrox in the near future, where through a hands-on learning experience, and learner-led activities, children are helped to develop motivational, emotional and social skills in a safe, yet fun environment.”

As part of the project, Gordon will complete a programme of training later in the year to become a Forest School Practitioner, enabling local schools to make use of the woodland at Parrox as part of an approved Forest Schools initiative.

Harold Elletson of Parrox Hall commented: “I’m delighted that, as a result of Gordon’s enthusiasm and initiative, we’ll soon have a dedicated Forest School Practitioner on site and be ready to launch an exciting new project. With the improvements to the woods, and the addition of a forest school to Parrox, we should be able to get something quite special going, which will benefit both the local community and the environment.”

Whether it's a teddy bear's picnic in the garden or "baggin's" in the yard, a 'brew' at Parrox has always been something special and the Hall has recently begun to welcome visitors for afternoon tea on Sundays. Guests are treated to a proper, old-fashioned English tea with sandwiches, cakes and scones. A number of specialist tea 'tastings' are being planned for the near future and details will follow on this site shortly. Tea is served at Parrox Hall every fortnight on Sunday afternoons. For more information or to book a table, please email info@parroxhall.co.uk or call 01253 812 209 or 01253 810 749.

The picture shows Miss Margaret Elletson and her teddy bears preparing for a picnic at Parrox in the early part of the last century.

The tennis court at Parrox Hall has been restored and is now open for hire. “The court was used regularly by many local people in the past,” says Harold Elletson of Parrox Hall. “It had got very run down and it’s been a lot of work to clean it up. It’s a good playable surface now and I’m delighted that people are using it again.” Hiring the court for an hour costs £12 and the price includes refreshments. Revenue goes towards restoration and conservation projects by the Parrox Hall Preservation Trust. For more information, please email info@parroxhall.co.uk or call 01253 812 209 or 01253 810 749.

Among the many old books in the library at Parrox Hall is a little, leather-bound volume entitled ‘Receipts and Remedies.’ Written in a number of different hands and dating from the seventeenth century, it contains both recipes for the kitchen at Parrox and numerous remedies, some of them more than a little alarming, for a variety of illnesses. The remedies in the book, including one for “oyle of whelps”, which involved boiling young whelps (puppies) and was, apparently, “excellent at the first to inject into a fresh gun-shot,” have been attributed to a former Squire, Dr William Fyffe.
William Fyffe, Honorary Physician to King Charles II for the County of Lancashire, was a man of many parts. Medical practitioner, politician, holder of such public offices as high constable and justice of the peace; he was well known throughout the county. Blunt, outspoken and irascible, he was not a man to be trifled with. In 1648 Fyffe married Ellen Butler of Parrox Hall, heiress to her father Henry Butler. Their daughter Katherine married John Elletson in 1690 and their descendants still hold the house and estate, part of an unbroken line stretching back over twenty-six generations to the original lord of the manor, Geoffrey the Crossbowman, who was installed by Prince John in 1189.
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