Browsholme Hall

I had the pleasure of visiting Browsholme Hall last month (which is pronounced “Broo-sh’m”) in Bowland, that part of the Ribble Valley one takes when travelling directly to Lancaster. Externally, it is interesting though peculiar, the three sets of columns on each storey by the main entrance faintly absurd. Begun in 1507 and added to in subsequent centuries, the old house is a charming hotchpotch of styles.

It remains the home of the Parker family, the head of which offered warm welcome and then carried on raking the lawns while our tour commenced, his wife currently occupying the office of the Lord Lieutenancy of Lancashire. Although the rooms were stuffed with historical furniture and curios as one might imagine, there were also signs of modernity, such as TVs. Browsholme Hall is not a museum; it is very much a family home. Indeed, this is its claim to fame. Mr Parker announced, with some well deserved pride, that his was the oldest surviving, continuously inhabited home in the county. Towneley and Samlesbury Halls might be older but no-one lives there; Hoghton Tower might be grander and still accomodates Sir Bernard and Lady Hoghton, but it is fifty years younger, which is also the case at Leighton (but by centuries). I therefore salute the Parker family and their ability to keep hold of such a home through the troubles of the civil wars, the Jacobite rebellions, death duties and gigantic heating bills.

Although too many have been demolished, stately homes and country houses are still a fairly common feature of the British countryside. To find the original family still occupying them is unusual. It renders them homes rather than museums, which is the purpose for which most of them were built.

The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus joins His people for worship when they gather. He inhabits the praises of His people and stands among them when they gather. Yet from any which meet together but prove unfaithful to His word and teachings, denying the truth of His gospel and quenching the Spirit, He surely withdraws. Such establishments are mere museums or second rate pantomimes; they put on a show but there is no reality beyond the scripts. May our churches and congregations be faithful gatherings which the Lord Himself chooses to join; may they be His earthly tabernacles until such time as He returns to make the entire planet His home.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Revelation 21:3

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