You needn't cross the Atlantic to enjoy an old English country house.  A 15th-century Tudor manor house built in Renaissance England a decade before Columbus sailed to America now stands above the James River just outside downtown Richmond.

Agecroft was purchased by Thomas C. Williams, Jr., in 1925 when industrialization around Lancashire threatened to destroy the house. Brick by brick and beam by beam, it was taken down, numbered and shipped to Virginia where it was painstakingly reassembled over the next three years.

A ten-minute slide introduction to Agecroft provides details of this amazing move.  Special architectural features and unusual furnishings are pinpointed so that you will be sure to notice them on your tour.  Your first glimpse of Agecroft's interior is the great hall.  The enormous mullioned window in this room survived the Atlantic crossing intact---not a single pane was broken!

As you tour the house you'll learn about the life style of the Tudor and early Stuart period, 1485 to 1650.  Rushes cover part of the floor in the Great Hall.  In centuries past, such long reeds were often left for a month or more before they were swept up.  Each day more rushes would be added to cover the food and refuse on the floor until they reached a depth of 12 inches or more.  The rushes provided insulation and moderated the irregularity of the rough stone floor.  When you see the rush lamp you'll learn the derivation of the expression "burning the candle at both ends." Although not literally a candle, the rush was formed into a wick and lit at both ends. 

In the withdrawing room there are several unusual chairs.  The draught chair was a precursor of the wing-backed chair.  A three-legged chair attests to the difficulty of balancing on the stone floors.  Its massive legs provide a strong point of contact and the stretcher base provides a place off the cold floor to put your feet while seated.

The next room is the eating parlor.  Although there are forks on the table these were used only for the dessert course.  The apostle spoons on display reveal the derivation of yet another expression "born with a silver spoon in your mouth."  These spoons were the traditional Christening gift for affluent families and bespoke a comfortable background.  The covered cups reveal a less comforting practice.  Cups were covered to protect diners from poison, not infrequently employed in Tudor times to remove those who stood in the way of someone else's advancement.

The staircase to the upstairs rooms is a work of art; it is not original to the house but comes from the priory at Warwick.  Upstairs you'll get another view of the great hall from the minstrels' gallery. 

Then you'll see the north bedroom.  Here again you'll discover a concern for safety.  The Elizabethan bed has an elaborately carved tester.  Not merely decorative, it also protected the slumberer from bits of falling plaster.  Another rare reminder of earlier times is the laundry counter on which the servants kept track of the bedlinens and nightwear they collected from each room. 

Each bedroom contains an elaborate and quite different bed.  In the second there is a 1629 bed from Bridgewater Castle in Somerset.  It is the third bed that is really a stunner, a polychrome bed from the 1600s with its original red, green and yellow paint.

After your house tour you'll step outside to see the exterior architectural features.  One window pane at the far end of the terrace contains a royal reminder. On June 12, 1645, King Charles I, used his diamond ring to carve the name William Dauntesey on it.

Before leaving be sure to allow time to explore the gardens.  The sunken garden is copied from Hampton Court.  There are three additional gardens you'll want to explore: the knot garden, formal garden and herb garden.  The latter contains only herbs grown during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Agecroft Hall is open year-round Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and Sundays from 12:30 to 5:00 P.M.  Admission is charged. For more information, call (804) 353-4241 or visit www.agecrofthall.com.

Directions: Take I-95 to Richmond.  From downtown take Cary Street west to Malvern Avenue on your right and Canterbury Road on your left.  Turn left on Canterbury Road.  Canterbury Road merges with Sulgrave Road.  Agecroft is at 4305 Sulgrave Road.  There is free parking on the grounds.