Photos of a model of Shelford Old Hall

These are photos of a model of Shelford Old Hall in Little Shelford which is now the property of the Museum of Cambridge. The hall itself was built in 1640 and was largely demolished in 1852.

Part of the north wing of the historic hall remains. It is now known as the Lodge. It can be found at the junction of Whittlesford Road and Bridge Lane in Little Shelford. It is now a family home.

Old Shelford Hall was a Tudor development of a medieval hall house, and was modernised in the Georgian style by Thomas Wale on his return from Riga, Russia in the 1760s.

The model Colonel Wale made in the late 1840s shows U-shaped ranges enclosing an open courtyard.

A sketch re-produced in Fanny Wale's book gives an idea of the rambling and unpretentious charm of the buildings.

With its six staircases, beamed and oak-panelled rooms and enormous Elizabethan fireplaces it seems to have been a commodious and comfortable house, lived in and loved by generations of the Wale family. It was however not grand, and was in a poor state of repair when it was partially demolished in the 1850s.

By 1850 the new Hall was arising in the Park and a few years later most of the old house was demolished, with only a rump surviving on Bridge Lane to serve as an entrance Lodge.