Visit Wimpole Hall is part of my meta bucket list to visit all the National trust properties. Wimpole Hall is my third National Trust property, my previous one being Anglesey Abbey. I having being visiting the properties in the county of Cambridgeshire first as that is the county that I live in so those properties are closer to me. Wimpole Hall is located 8 miles south-west of Cambridge.
History of Wimpole Hall
The site that Wimpole Hall is built on is very old. A manor house and a large amount of land were actually listed in the Doomsday book of 1086. The estate was owned by the Chicheley family for well over two hundred and fifty years. The house that is currently there today was built by the last of the Chicheley’s in in 1650. Sadly financial problems forced him to sell the estate after around thirty years. The house was then passed around different families until it came into the National Trusts possession in 1976.
The hall is is set in a vast estate of land, there are currently 3,000 acres of land/gardens surrounding the house. There is a formal grand avenue on the south side of the house. That avenue is very long and impressive, it is two and a half miles in length. There is also a very impressive walled garden to wander round. Some very famous people of their time worked on designing the gardens. People such as Charles Bridgeman and Capability Brown.
Wimpole Hall is the largest house in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It has had grade one listed status since 1967. The whole estate also has grade one status on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The entrance gates and the stables have Grade two status.
Visit Wimpole Hall
it was a rainy June day that I made my way to Wimpole Hall. On the drive there I did wonder if it was a good idea with the weather so bad. But as it was quite a long drive and I had brought a waterproof jacket with me I thought why not. The car park at Wimpole is quite impressive. It looks like it was converted from a large field that used to be used to graze animals.
This car park is split into small sections of around thirty car parking spaces. This way makes it significantly easier to find you car when you come to find it again after your visit as you can head to the named section. There are even a few parking spaces that have electric charging points for cars that use them
Entrance and gardens
The entrance point to the Wimpole estate is up the hill from the car park in the tree line. There are some toilets here and the building where you pay for entrance, or show your membership card to get in. In some National Trust properties this area would also house the shop and the cafe, however those are in the old stables at Wimpole Hall.
As the weather was still holding off and not really doing much more than drizzling I thought that I would walk over the to the rare breeds farm and see that first. I will have a separate article about farm up in a few day.
In between the farm and the house is the Walled garden. This actually surprised me how large this was. The brick wall must easily be three or four meters high and it envelopes the whole of the walled garden. They do ask that you keep the gate closed to the walled garden, “To keep the rabbits out”. There are lots nice flowers and paths to see and wander around.
House
The house is just a small walk from the Walled garden. It is possible for you to walk in the fields that some of the animal graze in. However as it was still slightly raining I skipped that detour and went to get inside the house and out of the rain. You are met at the entrance be a member of staff who will give you a little booklet about Wimpole Hall. They will also tell you the suggested route to take to see the inside of the house. The route is not a circular one, there are some out and backs where you need to go back though some of the rooms you have just visited.
They have a few rooms and open and set up to show what the house was like in the past. A usual for me one of the highlights was the library. Sadly you not go very far into to this room as it is roped off. However even from the roped section you can still enjoy the abidance of the room with all of the hundreds of books in the room.
A bit of a surprise for me was that someone was playing the piano in one of the rooms. To begin with I thought that it was a visitor who could play and had sneaked on the piano. However it turned out to be a member of staff playing. She was actually very good playing the piano and it also added to the feeling of the house.
Once you are done with the rooms on the ground floor there is one more surprise for you in the basement. There is a chapel down there with a really amazing painted ceiling and walls. The murals were painted by James Thornhill in 1724
Before I left I stopped at the National Trust shop that they have in part of the stables and purchased a magnet of Wimpole Hall for my collection.
Useful Information
Getting to Wimpole Hall
- Latitude: 52.1411
- Longitude: -0.0498
- Postcode: SG8 0BW
Entrance
The postcode for Wimpole Hall is SG8 0BW. The car park is rather new so it is better that you follow the brown signs once you get close to Wimpole Hall. There is a great deal of parking at Wimpole hall, they also have some spaces with electric charging facilities.
Opening Times
- Open every day 12:00>15:00, Mid February to end of October
- Only open Sat & Sunday, end of October to mid February
Facilities
- Shop
- Second hand bookshop
- Cafe
- Picnic areas
- Guided tours