The Little Hall is today the hub of the House, the crossroads where people gather when the family is at home and when guests arrive. It is hard to imagine this room as it once was in the original Tudor building, when, with the adjoining room and at first floor level, it formed the Great Chamber, which had a floor area larger than the Great Hall. Ralph Montagu installed the gallery in 1694 and later had Chèron decorate the painted ceiling, with his interpretation of
"The Return of Proserpine"

Facing the window is
" Breaking Cover", by John Wootton (c.1682-1764). The figures - by William Hogarth - show John, the 2nd Duke of Montagu (removing his coat), with the King's hounds.

To the right of the door to the Great Hall is
"The Harvest Scene" by David Teniers the Younger (1610-90); the scene is Chateau Drie Tueren, between Brussels and Malines; the Chateau in the background on the right belonged to Rubens; in the foreground, Teniers and his family discuss the harvest with his bailiff.

The large equestrian portrait of Henry IV of France is French School, late 16th Century
to the left is
" A Commander in Parade Armour", possibly Ferdinand, Duke of Alba, by Girolamo da Carpi (1501-1556), and to the right,
"A child in leading-strings," by Pantoja de la Cruz (1551-1609).

The roll top writing table is French c.1755-60.

The carved stone overmantel
was made for Duke Ralph to show his family tree reaching back to William the Conqueror.
The bronze bust of Henry IV, an ancestor of the Dukes of Buccleuch, is perhaps by Hubert Le Sueur. To the right is
" A Young Man in a Plumed Hat" by Annibale Caracci (1557-1602), and to the left is King Edward VI by Gwillelm Stretes (active 1546-56).
 

Between the windows are portraits of King Frederick of Bohemia and his Queen,
Elizabeth Stuart , by Gerhard Honthorst, signed and dated 1634. The portraits above are of Prince Charles Louis and Prince Maurice of Bavaria, both after Van Dyck.

Over the doors are flower paintings by
Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1634-94). He had worked under Le Brun at Versailles and was brought to England by Ralph Montagu, with several other Hugenot craftsmen soon after 1685.

The Upper Gallery:
Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, by William Wissing (1655-87), she was heiress of the Scotts of Buccleuch and married
James, Duke of Monmouth, to her right, the eldest natural son of Charles II, portrayed by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1649-1723).

Facing the window is
Mary Churchill, Duchess of Montagu, by Charles Jervas; she was daughter of the 1st 'Great' Duke of Marlborough and married
John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, also portrayed here by Charles Jervas (extreme right). In the centre,
The Two Children of Charles I are by Wessop, c.1645, and above them is another Baptiste.

On the South wall is
Charles II in Garter robes (artist unknown), to the right is the
Marquis of Monthermer, son of the 3rd Duke of Montagu, by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-79).

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