Taken at Kirby Hall just outside Corby Northants.

Kirby Hall is one of England’s greatest Elizabethan and 17th-century houses. Begun by Sir Humphrey Stafford in about 1570, it was purchased six years later by Sir Christopher Hatton, one of Queen Elizabeth’s ‘comely young men’ and later her Lord Chancellor, who hoped in vain to receive the Queen here during one of her annual ‘progresses’ around the country. Although this vast mansion is partly roofless, most of its walls survive to their full impressive height: so does the stupendous three-tier inner porch, begun following French pattern books and later further embellished in the Classical style by the sculptor Nicholas Stone.

Kirby Hall’s exceptionally rich decoration, indeed, proclaims that its successive owners were always in the forefront of new ideas about architecture and design. The Great Hall and state rooms also remain intact, and have been refitted and redecorated to authentic 17th and 18th-century specifications.

Sir Christopher Hatton the Fourth added the great gardens (described as ‘ye finest garden in England’) in the late 17th century. They are now partly restored and laid out in an elaborate ‘cutwork’ design. The gardens and ground floor of the building are both easily accessible by wheelchair.

World Conker Championships 2008 at Ashton in Northamptonshire.

World Conker Championships 2008 at Ashton in Northamptonshire.

World Conker Championships 2008 at Ashton in Northamptonshire.

World Conker Championships 2008 at Ashton in Northamptonshire.

After each reading of the proclamation, local youths try to disarm the halbardiers.

The bailiff to the Lord of the Manor, Robert Denton, reads out the proclamation.