Today, Soulton experienced, as it has for nearly 500 years, a truly awe-inspiring phenomenon coded into Sir Rowland Hill’s remarkable house.
As the Easter story on Good Friday reaches the point of the crucifixion the setting projects a cross onto the hall above the secret chapel in Soulton Hall. This is an intentional Sir Rowland Hill device in the house at Soulton Hall.
Since 1556, a remarkable alignment has occurred around the time of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday. A high window at the top of the stairs to the first gallery aligns with the late-day sun, back-lighting the cross of the mullions it in a powerful glow, a halo.
This sunlight in tern projects a beautiful cross onto the wall above a chapel concealed within the house. It’s a poignant reminder, etched in light, of the sacrifice and hope that this day represents.
Commenting on this Tim Ashton said:
It is quite something to share this 1550s moving memento mori which deploys the movements of the sun. When you are in the house anticipating it, there is an awesome sense of the creeping inevitability of the Easter story.
