This is a list of some of the places we have visited which are part of “Historic Houses”. We are also members of The National Trust and I may add a separate list for that. We joined on our trip to Northumberland because we realised that three of the places we wanted to visit were part of Historic Houses and that if we added a fourth we would recoup the price of membership.
Some of the properties do not allow photographs to be taken inside, for insurarance reasons.
Fairfax House, York
On the second day of a short trip to west Leeds we spent part of the day in York. We primarily went to Betty’s but also National Railway Museum and Fairfax House. A bad back meant I was ready to quit by mid-afternoon.
I had visited Fairfax House several times over the years because …
Temple Newsam, nr Leeds
We had planned to go to Scotland for a week but had to abandon that plan and instead had a couple of days based on the East Side of Leeds. Virtually next door was Temple Newsam, council owned Historic House originally built by the Knights Templars.
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Meols Hall, Southport
Meols Hall is tricky to visit as they are only open for this purpose for about four weeks starting with the August Bank Holiday Weekend. We were the only visitors during the time we were there and although it is normally a self-guided tour one of the volunteers showed us round, which was very helpful. …
Forde Abbey
We visited Forde Abbey, not far from Axminster in Somerset, on our trip to Devon and Dorset. It was a third slightly disappointing visit on this trip. The gardens have the "the highest powered/gravity-fed fountain in England” but it is only switched on for about half an hour. …
Levens Hall, Cumbria
We visited two Historic Houses properties whilst looking after our three grandchildren. The first of which was Levens Hall. We were uncertain whether Sarah and I had visited previously but we had, in 2017, possibly only to see the gardens. …
Lowther Castle, Cumbria
We took our son and grandchildren to Lowther Castle last year and they enjoyed the wooden play castle so much that we planned another visit with just the grandchildren.
However, as with Levens Hall I didn’t take any photos of the main grounds and just one video of the children in the play area.
Towneley Hall, Burnley
Yesterday we visited Towneley Hall in Burnley. It is owned by the Council and therefore would have been relatively cheap if we had not been members of Historic Houses Association.
The hall has undergone significant renovations over the last few years and there were various displays explaining what had been done.
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Harewood House, West Yorkshire
We visited Harewood House whilst staying at Knaresborough. Unexpectedly there was a Doll’s House so that has also been added to the website.
We discovered that fairly recently the current Early decided that the name should be pronounced “Hare’ rather than the traditional “Har”, to avoid confusion.
…Bramhall Hall, Stokport
We visited Bramhall Hall in Bramhall Park, Stockport and in Historic Houses.
The whole exterior was not its best as the roof was being repaired.
And the reign of Elizabeth the first and through to the English Civil War, the family found themselves mixing their support.
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Cholmondeley Soldiers (at Houghton Hall)
Houghton Hall contains one of the largest collections of model soldiers in the world. They were assembled and mounted starting in 1928 by the sixth Marquess of Cholmodeley. I am hoping that the descriptinos below are correct.