| EAST OF ENGLAND Anglesey Abbey & Garden
The house, dating from 1600, is built on the site of an Augustinian priory and contains the famous Fairhaven collection of paintings and furniture. It is surrounded by a 40ha garden and arboretum. Ashridge Estate
The Ashridge Estate covers six square miles and comprises woodlands, commons and downland. The main focal point is the granite monument erected in 1832 to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. Blakeney Point A 3.5 mile-long sand and shingle spit important for its colonies of seabirds as well as common and grey seals. Blickling Hall, Garden & Park This Jacobean house dates from the early 17th century and includes fine collections of furniture, pictures and tapestries. Bourne Mill Originally built as a fishing lodge in 1591 it features a mill-pond and machinery including the waterwheel still intact and working. Brancaster A large area with 4 miles of tidal foreshore, sand dunes and saltmarsh including the site of the Roman Fort of Branodonum. Coggeshall Grange Barn The oldest surviving timber-framed barn in Europe, dating from 1140, and originally part of a Cistercian monastery. Dunstable Downs Countryside Centre & Commanding outstanding views over the Vale of Aylesbury and surrounding countryside, 206 ha (510 acres) of grassland and farmland SW of Dunstable, this local beauty spot offers an opportunity for many forms of recreation, including walking and kite-flying. The Countryside Centre is located at the top of the hill Felbrigg Hall, Garden & Park One of the finest 17th century houses in Norfolk with its original 18th century furniture and pictures, and an outstanding library. Hatfield Forest An ancient woodland and rare surviving example of a medieval royal hunting forest. The pollarded hornbeams and oaks support a wide variety of wildlife and there are many walks and nature trails, as well as fishing in the lake. Horsey Windpump A drainage windmill severely damaged by lightning in 1943 – now restored. Houghton Mill A large timber-built watermill on an island on the Great Ouse River. Much of the machinery is intact and is operational on milling days. Ickworth House, Park & Garden The Earl of Bristol created this eccentric house in 1795 to display his collections. Paintings include works by Titian, Gainsborough and Velazquez. A magnificent Georgian silver collection is displayed in the oval Rotunda. Lavenham: An early 16th century timber-framed Tudor building, originally the hall for the Guild of Corpus Christi. Displays of local history and an exhibition of 700 years of the medieval woollen cloth trade. Melford Hall A turreted brick Tudor mansion little changed since 1578 with original panelled banqueting hall, a Regency library and Victorian bedrooms. Oxburgh Hall, Garden & Estate A moated house built (1482) by the Bedingfeld family who still live there. The rooms show the development from medieval austerity to Victorian comfort, with embroidery worked by Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity on display. Paycocke’s A merchant’s house dating from c.1500 with unusually rich panelling and wood carving. A display of lace for which Coggeshall was famous is on show. Peckover House & Garden A town house built c.1722 with fine plaster and wood rococo decoration, and an outstanding Victorian garden. Ramsey Abbey Gatehouse Remains of a 15th century gatehouse of a Benedictine abbey. Rayleigh Mount The former site of the domesday castle erected by Sweyn of Essex. Shaw’s Corner An Edwardian villa, the home of George Bernard Shaw from 1906–1950. Many literary and personal relics are shown in the downstairs rooms which remain as in his lifetime. St George’s Guildhall The largest surviving English medieval guildhall, now in use as an arts centre. Sheringham Park This outstanding landscape park by Humphry Repton contains mature woodlands and spectacular gardens of rhododendrons and azaleas. Sutton Hoo Opened in Spring 2002. The Anglo-Saxon royal burial site where the priceless Sutton Hoo treasure was discovered in a huge ship grave. The exhibition tells the story of the site – which has been described as ‘page one of English history’ – and displays some original objects as well as replicas of the treasure. The burial site forms part of the 99-ha (245 acre) estate given to the National Trust by the Annie Tranmer Trust in 1998. Excellent walks. Theatre Royal Built in 1819, a rare example of a late Georgian playhouse still in use. Theatre Royal is a working theatre and presents a year-round program. Whipsnade Tree Cathedral Created following WW1 in ‘Faith, hope and reconciliation’, the Tree Cathedral covers a tranquil 10.5ha (26 acres) and contains many tree species uniquely planted in the plan of a medieval cathedral. Grass avenues form chancel, nave, transepts, chapels and cloisters, and there is also a dew pond. Nearby are Whipsnade Downs, where the Trust owns a farm and an area of botanically rich chalk grassland, to which there is unrestricted access on foot Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve Britain’s oldest nature reserve – a unique part of wilderness that once covered much of East Anglia. Wimpole Hall Built in a restrained 18th century style, the fine interior is both intimate and formal with work by Gibbs, Flitcroft and Soane. Wimpole Home Farm Built in 1794 as a model farm (designed by Sir John Soane) Wimpole houses a collection of farm machinery used at the farm for over 200 years and is home to a range of rare animal breeds. Note: NT members pay reduced fee. |
