Ayscoughee Hall
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Ayscoughee Hall by Bob Harvey as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Ayscoughee Hall
Image: © Bob Harvey Taken: 4 Jun 2023
A grade 1 listed building, now a museum for the town of Spalding. Built for local wool merchant Sir Richard Aldwyn in the 1420s, it has been home to many important figures in local and national history and the museum is fascinating if sparsely displayed. Local legend has it that the Ayscough who gave his name to the house was the uncle who paid for Isaac Newton to go to Cambridge. But there is no evidence for this, and in fact it is not clear how the family name of Ayscough became linked to the house. Certainly Isaac's mother was Hannah Ayscough, but she came from Rutland, and Newton's education was guided by one William Ayscough, an uncle (her brother), but he was a priest at Burton Coggles. William did arrange for Newton to go up to his old college in Cambridge. The link between Isaac Newton and Ayscoughee hall is not proven. That does not stop volunteer guides at Woolsthorpe and at this hall telling the tale, however. See https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1359532?section=official-list-entry and https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI22360
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.784401
Longitude
-0.149463