This is a list of the houses featured in the book which are open to the public. Houses maintained by the National Trust are marked (NT) and those by English Heritage marked (EH). See the Further Information on page 121 for details on visiting these properties.
Baddesley Clinton (NT), Rising Lane,
Baddesley Clinton, Knowle, Solihull
B93 0DQ Tel. 01564 783294
A charming medieval moated manor house, with secret priest holes.
Belton House (NT), Grantham,
Lincolnshire NG32 2LS
Tel. 01476 566116
A beautiful and largely unaltered late 17th-century house.
Baddesley Clinton
Biddulph Grange Gardens (NT),
Biddulph, Stoke on Trent ST8 7SD
Tel. 01782 517999
Notable Victorian gardens restored by the National Trust around an Italianate-style house.
Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House,
Windermere, Cumbria LA23 3JT
Tel. 01539 446139;
Outstanding Arts and Crafts interior from the turn of the 20th century.
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1PX
Tel. 08700 602080;
Designed by John Vanbrugh for the 1st Duke of Marlborough and built between 1705–22. It is one of the finest Baroque mansions in the country.
Blickling Hall (NT), Blickling,
Norwich NR11 6NF
Tel. 01263 738030
An excellent example of an early 17th-century Jacobean house, with a notable long gallery.
Brodsworth Hall (EH), Brodsworth,
Doncaster, Yorkshire DN5 7XJ
Tel. 01302 724969
A beautifully-restored mid Victorian country house, with gardens replanted to their original form.
Blackwell Arts and Crafts House
Buckingham Palace,
London SW1A 1AA
Tel. 0207 766 7300;
The original Buckingham House was rebuilt by John Nash and Edward Blore from the 1820s and refaced in 1913 to form the famous palace we see today.
Burghley House, Stamford,
Lincolnshire PE9 3JY
Tel. 01780 752451;
Largely intact, late 16th-century prodigy house built for Elizabeth’s Lord Treasurer William Cecil, with 18th-century landscaped parkland by Capability Brown.
Burton Agnes Hall, Driffield,
East Yorkshire YO25 4NB
Tel. 01262 490324;
An Elizabethan house, with a notable gatehouse and the original Norman hall still standing next to it.
Calke Abbey (NT), Ticknall,
Derbyshire DE73 7LE
Tel. 01332 863822
A remarkably untouched, early 18th-century mansion.
Capesthorne Hall, Siddington,
Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 9JY
Tel. 01625 861221
An ancient site, with a house rebuilt in the Early Victorian period in an early 16th-century style.
Castle Drogo (NT), Drewsteignton,
Exeter EX6 6PB
Tel. 01647 433306
An early 20th-century country house, built in the style of a castle to designs of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Castle Howard, Malton, North
Yorkshire YO60 7DA
Tel. 01653 648333;
One of the great country houses designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1699 and built in the Baroque style.
Burton Agnes
Chatsworth,Bakewell, Derbyshire,
DE45 1PP Tel. 01246 582204;
One of the most famous country houses which has been in the Cavendish family for over 450 years and which has developed piecemeal, with notable late 17th- and early 18th-century façades. Edensor village is an excellent example of a relocated village built with picturesque houses in the early Victorian period.
Chiswick House (EH), Burlington
Lane, London W4 2RP
Tel. 0207 973 3292
Important early Palladian house built from 1725–29 by Lord Burlington.
Cragside (NT), Rothbury, Morpeth,
Northumberland NE65 7PX
Tel. 01669 620333
Domestic revival house built in the 1870s to designs by Richard Norman Shaw for the inventive Lord Armstrong.
Cronkhill, Attingham Park Estate (NT),
Atcham, Shrewsbury SY5 6JP
Tel. 01743 708123
An Italianate villa designed by John Nash in 1805 and part of the Attingham Park Estate.
Dunham Massey (NT), Altrincham,
Cheshire WA14 4SJ
Tel. 0161 941 1025
A house with elements of most periods, which retains its medieval moat and deer park.
Haddon Hall, Bakewell,
Derbyshire DE45 1LA
Tel. 01629 812855;
Dramatically situated medieval house, with notable long gallery.
Hampton Court Palace,
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT8 9AU
Tel. 0844 482 7777;
www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace
Famous palace originally built by Cardinal Wolsey until he fell out of favour with Henry VIII who took it over and extended it, with further work by Wren in the late 17th century.
Chesterfield, Derbyshire S44 5QJ.
Tel. 01246 850430
Famous late 16th-century prodigy house built for Bess of Hardwick next to the old hall (managed by English Heritage) which was completed only a few years before she began work on the current building.
Hatfield House, Hatfield,
Hertfordshire AL9 5NQ
Tel. 01707 287010;
A magnificent Jacobean house which has been in the Cecil family for over 400 years.
Highclere Castle, Hampshire
RG20 9RN Tel. 01635 253210;
An Early Victorian castle form house, used recently as TV’s Downton Abbey.
Holkham Hall, Wells-next-the-Sea,
Norfolk NR23 1AB
Tel. 01328 710227;
A classic mid 18th-century, Palladian-style house designed by William Kent, with a spectacular marble hall.
Kedleston Hall (NT),
Derby DE22 5JH
Tel. 01332 842191
A mid 18th-century Palladian house, with some of the best examples of Robert Adam’s work.
Little Moreton Hall (NT),
Congleton, Cheshire CW12 4SD
Tel. 01260 272018
Famous timber-framed house dating from the late 15th to 16th century, with notable glazed windows and long gallery.
Longleat, Warminster,
Wiltshire BA12 7NW
Tel. 01985 844400;
One of the finest country houses built from the 1560s by Sir John Thynne, with a landscaped park by Capability Brown.
Lowther Castle, Askham, Penrith,
Cumbria, CA10 2HG
Tel. 01931 712192;
Beautifully set, early 19th-century, castle-style mansion, now just a shell but with the grounds undergoing restoration and open to visitors. Visit the website for details.
Lyme Park (NT), Disley,
Stockport, Cheshire SK12 2NX
Tel. 01663 762023
A 16th-century house, with a graceful, early 18th-century front overlooking the lake.
Nether Winchendon House, nr
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP18 0DY
Tel. 01844 290101;
A house with medieval origins, but with a makeover in the late 18th century in the Gothick style.
Lyme Park
Powis Castle (NT),
Welshpool SY21 8RF
Tel. 01938 551929
Medieval castle in origin but notable now for its gardens.
Royal Pavilion, Brighton,
East Sussex BN1 1EE
Tel. 01273 292746;
A reworking of an earlier house in an Indian style by John Nash from 1815–23.
Shugborough Hall, Milford,
Stafford ST17 0XB
Tel. 01889 881388;
A reworking in the Neo Classical style, of an earlier house which is notable today as a working estate, much as it would have been in the 19th century.
Standen (NT), East Grinstead,
West Sussex RH19 4NE
Tel. 01342 323029
One of the few Arts and Crafts houses open to the public, designed by Philip Webb with Morris and Co interiors and demonstrating the movement’s ideas of using local materials and retaining original features.
Stanton Harcourt Manor House and Gardens,
Main Road, Witney,
Oxfordshire OX29 5RJ
Tel. 01865 881928
Medieval site, with rare kitchen.
Stokesay Castle (EH), Craven Arms,
Shropshire, SY7 9AH
Tel. 01588 672544
A notable medieval fortified manor house, complete with its original hall, solar, fortifications and later timber-framed gatehouse.
Stowe House, Stowe School,
Buckingham MK18 5EH
Tel. 01280 818229;
A magnificent 18th-century house, with huge marble saloon. The house was sold in 1922 and is now part of the school, while the notable landscaped gardens are managed by the National Trust.
Sudbury Hall (NT), Sudbury,
Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 5HT
Tel.01283 585305.
A late 17th-century house, with earlier Jacobean elements which made it rather outdated when it was built. Notable long gallery and carved staircase.
Sutton Scarsdale Hall (EH),
Chesterfield, Derbyshire S44 5UR
Tel. 01604 735400 (regional office).
The shell of an early Georgian house which was asset stripped in the 1920s. As you are free to wander around, it gives a unique opportunity to see how the structure was built.
Tatton Park (NT), Knutsford,
Cheshire WA16 6QN
Tel. 01625 374400;
Neo Classical house, notable for its estate buildings, gardens and parkland.
Tyntesfield (NT), Wraxall, North
Somerset BS48 1NT
Tel. 01275 461900.
An outstanding example of a Gothic Revival country house.
Uppark (NT), South Harting,
Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 5QR
Tel. 01730 825415
An excellent example of a late 17th-century, Dutch-style house.
Waddesdon Manor (NT), Waddesdon,
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshitre HP18 0JH
Tel. 01296 653211;
Spectacular French chateau-style house built on top of a hill in the 1870s and ’80s.
Wightwick Manor (NT),
Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton,
West Midlands WV6 8EE
Tel. 01902 761400
Arts and Crafts-style house and interior.
Witley Court (EH), Great Witley,
Worcestershire WR6 6JT
Tel. 01299 896636.
A Jacobean house rebuilt in the early 19th century but now standing as a shell. Notable not only to understand the structure of the house but also for the spectacular fountains and church which have been restored to their former glory.
Wollaton Hall,
Nottingham NG8 2AE
Tel. 0115 915 3900;
Excellent example of a late 16th-century prodigy house, set in parkland close to the city centre.
Wightwick Manor
