Before The Hayes was a Christian conference centre, it served as a home for the Fitzherbert Wright family for 50 years. What we now know as the coffee area, was a kitchen back then, with a huge fireplace used as an oven and also to heat the entire main house.
The Hayes in the early 1900s.
Fast forward 165 years to today; you can see this historic fireplace in the coffee lounge. Up until recently, it was used as a display cabinet to showcase historic items. However, we've recently taken out the cabinet and stripped it back to the original fireplace.
This is how the fireplace would've looked in the late 1800s.
The fireplace today after refurbishments.
With comfortable seating and cosy lighting, this newly refurbished area not only provides a space to relax but also showcases the long history of this Derbyshire manor house.
The historic items have been moved round the corner to a purpose-built museum-area which is currently under construction.
You can read all about The Hayes' beginnings in our article on the history of this famous house.
If you’ve never experienced our venues before, we’d love to show you around and explain how we can support your ministry. Simply give our dedicated sales team a call on 0300 111 4444 today.
