Charlecote Park Tour of the Property 1. The Great Hall What you should not miss in the Great Hall Pietra dura table There are many items in the house that were bought in the William Beckford sale at Fonthill Abbey in 1823 and this 16th century table is the finest. One of the great treasures of Charlecote it is a superb example of Italian pietra dura, a technique of marble mosaic, and was made for the Borghese family in Rome. George Hammond Lucy paid £1890 for it. Further details   Cornelius Johnson portrait Dating from the 1620s, this copy of a Cornelius Johnson portrait shows the growing family of Thomas Lucy III and his wife Alice Spencer of Claverdon. Here we can see seven children although in total they were to have thirteen. The two children at the front are boys disguised as girls. This was common before the age of seven to help prevent the sons being kidnapped and ransomed.     Busts of the Thomas Lucys On the mantlepiece can be seen the busts of Sir Thomas Lucy I and Sir Thomas Lucy II. In the centre is a bust of Queen Elizabeth I to mark the fact that she visited Charlecote to meet Sir Thomas Lucy I. These are the only depictions we have of the first two Thomases. On a table on the right is a bust of Sir Thomas Lucy III who can also be seen in the Cornelius Johnson portrait and in other portaraits around the house.     Stained Glass windows As you face the Great Hall windows the first few panes of stained glass on the left are Tudor and show the Lucy coat of arms bearing three pike standing on their tails. As you move into the bay window the pike are joined by crossed crosses. These symbolise the fact that Geoffrey Lucy - Bishop of Winchester (1195-1206) gave financial support to the 4th and 5th crusades. The remaining windows were created in the Victorian era.     Painting of the Dutch-style Water garden Painted in 1690 by Jan Stevens this shows how the water garden might have looked. Started by Captain Thomas Lucy in the 1670s the work was completed by Colonel George Lucy between 1714 and 1721. It no longer exists as Batchelor George Lucy employed 'Capability' Brown to landscape the gardens which resulted in its removal and replacement by the ha-ha that now houses the restaurant.   Hidden Secrets in the Great Hall   Funerary helmets High up on the window-side of the Great Hall are funerary helmets of the Sir Thomas Lucys. These were not worn in battle but were ceremonial being placed on the coffin when carried to the church on a bier. They would have had a feather plume and can be quite ornamented       Lucy crest doorstops The Lucy crest sits above the shield of pike and crosses. It consists of a boar's head seated in a winged crown. It can be found depicted on banners and firescreens in the house but in the Great Hall has been turned into doorstops.     Fossil ammonites in the marble floor Scattered over the marble floor of the Great Hall can be found fossil ammonites. They are in the brown and the white tiles but are more difficult to find in the white ones.