Sinai Park House Tour
10 January 2004

Following an excellent lunch at the Albion a group of thirty or so Rolleston WI members and friends set off for a guided tour of this historic building. We were given a very warm welcome by the owner Kate Newton, her four big dogs, cats and assorted livestock.

It was quite eerie as we stood looking up at the old timbered walls and listened as Ms Newton talked about the history of the building, the illusion only broken by the sound of traffic in the valley below.

Sinai Park House, off Shobnall Road, is a large multi-period and mainly timber-framed Tudor manor house (with origins dating from 15th - 17th centuries) on a moated site overlooking Burton, thought to have been built as a rest home and hunting lodge for the Abbott and monks from Burton Abbey. In its present form, it consists of a central range (which would have contained the main hall) with two cross wings. In the last century up until the 1950s it had comprised six dwellings but the owners had had to move out when it was declared unsafe. The site then passed through several owners before the present owner took charge in 1994. 

Stepping inside the restored wing one might have expected everything to be very old but instead one gets more of a history tour through the ages. The wing consisted of three levels and a large cellar (a few bottles of wine but no sign of ghosts or the fabled abbey tunnel). The ground floor included a main room with staircase, large dining table and an original fireplace. There were the old ornate beams alongside plainer ones - showing various restoration periods - but sadly the paneling had long since disappeared. Leading off from this room was a smaller one - arguably the best and thought perhaps to have been the Abbot's in his day. Hanging on the wall was a large portrait of Henry William Paget, the first Marquess of Anglesey, who passed the famous remark at Waterloo 'By God, Sir, I've lost my leg'; to which Wellington replied 'By God, Sir, so you have'.

I can't help but think that Ms Newton shows similar courage to Henry Paget in taking on this long term project. A lot has been achieved but there is even more that needs to be done. Burton has seen many structural changes and it would be nice to think this part might survive for future generations. 

As our party departed another group of thirty were waiting in the wings - this lady certainly likes a challenge or two!! Good luck to her.

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