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| Gilling Castle, Great Hall. Photo by Damian Bramley, Courtesy Ampleforth College. |
November 28, 2020. The Great Hall at Gilling Castle was reconfigured for primary school pupils with specially sized furniture created by Robert Thompson, the "Mouseman" of Kilburn, Yorkshire.
Thompson was so called because all of his furniture at Ampleforth College since the time of the great Headmaster Paul Nevill has the distinctive carved mouse hiding somewhere on it.
When I ate my three meals a day in this dining room it was initially at the table at lower right, then the table at the rear, in the paneled alcove. The teacher at that time was at the head of the table.. I remember being immediately to the left of the teacher in both cases.
The coat of arms over the fireplace is that of the Fairfax family, cousins of the General Fairfax who tracked down Charles I in Oxford and turned him over to Cromwell's government for a trial. King Charles went to his death claiming the divine right to rule without Parliament. Subsequent monarchs have been less less vocal about their beliefs in their divine right to rule independently of Parliament.
On the other hand, the British people did not care for the idea of Oliver Cromwell's children replacing the royal princes. The Restoration under Charles II was welcomed.
More about all of this is on pp. 11-12 of Oxford College Arms.
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