King Arthur’s Great Halls Refurbishment
28th March 2025
Best Value Tours were delighted that King Arthur’s Great Halls Grade 11 listed building, in King Arthur land down in Tintagel Cornwall. We are delighted offer a number of King Arthur featured tours/Cornwall tours which we have posted details of below, but first more news on the King Arthur Halls.
Refurbishment
The £168,000 Historic England grant funded Tintagel’s King Arthur’s Great Halls‘ first substantial repair in 90 years. Traditional builders Bramhill, from Winkleigh, Devon, started work in January using slate from Trevillett Quarry near Tintagel. Historic England planned roof repairs and art and stained glass window conservation to remove the halls from its “at risk” list.
One hall’s interior. Stone floors and curved oak ceilings. Large semi-circular stained glass windows line both walls, leading to an ornately carved stone wall with a mantelpiece-like structure. Large gold-detailed red velvet curtain on wall. In front of the mantelpiece is a stone table and throne-style chair. Colourful flags line the walls and seating below. The Knights of the Round Table keep their headquarters in the Great Hall.
The structure includes many important paintings, fabrics, and artefacts manufactured for this unique collection, which are now water-resistant, according to conservation architect Jeremy Chadburn. “We can now start to plan the next repairs.” In 2022, Historic England listed the halls to its heritage-at-risk registry due to their deterioration. Sites at risk of loss are identified and safeguarded by the registry. King Arthur’s Great Halls’ front. Granite blocks form its three floors. The ground level has vibrant green doors, guttering, and window frames and enormous bay windows. Large windows and a central turret decorate the second floor. Roof has three garret windows. The Great Hall was constructed between 1927 and 1933. King Arthur’s Great Halls are Trevena House, a huge Victorian mansion, and the Great Hall. The Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table, an organisation dedicated to Arthurian honour and chivalry, still meets in the Great Hall, built between 1927 and 1933. The halls have 73 stained-glass windows by Veronica Whall and 10 commissioned oil paintings by William Hatherell about King Arthur and his knights. According to mythology, the famous king was born at Tintagel Castle.
History
King Arthur’s Hall was the vision of retired London merchant Frederick Thomas Glasscock, who travelled to Tintagel early in the 20th century and was enthralled by the Legend. We can enjoy his legacy since he had the wealth to realise his desire. The Halls have been visited by over two million people since June 1933 and featured in King Arthur and his Knights films and TV shows. Besides its Arthurian themes, the Halls are a 1930s Cornish workmanship and materials museum.
Trevena House On Tintagel’s old town hall and mayoral offices location is Trevena mansion, where the Great Halls are. It was created in the 1860s by Morning Chronicle editor and Saturday Review founder-editor John Douglas Cook. Nineteen bedrooms, no bathroom, and a vast dining room where Mr Cook, a glutton, lavishly entertained his many friends. After Mr. Cook died in 1868 (buried in Tintagel Graveyard), Sir Arthur and Lady Hayter bought Trevena House and utilised it as a holiday home for years. Glasscock bought the house in the early 1920s.
It had one of the nation’s best seaside gardens, where he built his majestic Hall of Chivalry. Veronica Whall Between 1930 and 1933, great artist Veronica Whall constructed 72 windows (73 and one hidden) that are the Halls’ crowning feature. Veronica’s father, Christopher Whall, was a late-19th-century church stained glass expert and L.C.C Central School of Arts and Crafts teacher. Veronica designed figurines for her father’s windows and helped in his factory aged 13. She and her father started Whall & Whall Ltd. in 1922 and designed and built Great War memorial windows.
After her father died in 1924, Veronica and her older brother Christopher John expanded the firm. Frederick Glasscock hired Veronica to design and build the Halls’ two triptych windows, her largest job. Her artistry impressed him so much that he ordered 67 more windows—49 for the galleries around the Main Hall and 18 for the Hall. William Hatherell R.I. Frederick Glasscock commissioned 10 Arthurian-themed paintings by William Hatherall R.I. for his modest Hall in 1928. Hatherall, 76, was a successful illustrator and painter. After joining Graphic Magazine in 1892, he illustrated several Thomas Hardy, William Blake, and J.M. Barrie works. He showed widely at the New Society of Painters, Royal Society of British Arts, and Royal Academy. The Great Halls’ famed artworks draw international visitors.
Stunning Cornwall
6 Day Devon, Cornwall and South West England Tour
This truly is a memorable tour encompassing a broad spectrum of the south of England. You will be introduced to a vast array of villages, historic landmarks and places of interest. This tour will enable you to fully immerse yourself in the culture of the English countryside and the beautiful landscapes that define our island. You will take home with you memories which will stay with you forever.
Tour Highlights
Orientation of Bristol, Bath, Dunster, Lynmouth, Plymouth, Exeter and Salisbury.
View Windsor Castle and the ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland at Longleat.
See Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth and St. Michael’s Mount.
Visit Royal Windsor and the Roman Baths in Bath.
Visit the stately Longleat House in Warminster and picturesque Lacock village.
See the ancient seaport of Bideford and the gorgeous artists’ colony of St. Ives.
See the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge, and John Constables Salisbury.
Full details and if you choose to book, click here
King Arthur Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Avebury Small Group Day Tour
On this small group day excursion from London, explore King Arthur’s realm and tales. Visit his cemetery in Glastonbury, the mythical Isle of Avalon, the peaceful Chalice Well Gardens, and Britain’s largest Stone Circles in Avebury. We will also visit Stonehenge and hear about its intriguing history and connection to King Arthur!
From London, we go west to Stonehenge in Wessex’s chalk uplands. Historians and visitors have been drawn to this prehistoric monument, and with your experienced guide, we will explore its various origins and appreciate its power.
Glastonbury Westward, we reach King Arthur’s Avalon and the mystical Glastonbury Tor above the Somerset Levels’ marshes and wetlands. Some say a terminally wounded Arthur was carried here after Camlann. His burial in Glastonbury Abbey ruins and an earlier Joseph of Arimathea and Holy Grail legend are revealed. We explore the peaceful Chalice Well Gardens, where Joseph hid the Last Supper cup in the First Century. Glastonbury, a lovely village, has New Age shops and eccentric cafes for lunch.
Avebury Avebury, with its stunning stone circles and thatched cottage village, is our last stop of the day. Before our small group tour ends and we return to London, visit Britain’s largest stone circle for a guided stroll and free time.