Sudbury Hall is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England. One of the country's finest Restoration mansions, it has

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

status. The National Trust Museum of Childhood is housed in the 19th-century servants' wing of Sudbury Hall.

Background

The Vernon family came to Sudbury as a result of the 16th-century marriage of Sir John Vernon to Ellen Montgomery the Sudbury heiress. The house was built between 1660 and 1680 by George Vernon, grandfather of George Venables-Vernon the 1st

Baron Vernon Baron Vernon, of Kinderton in the County of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1762 for the former Member of Parliament George Venables-Vernon. He had previously represented Lichfield and Derby in the House o ...

and is notable for its superb Great Staircase, fine Long Gallery, and portraits by John Michael Wright, and of Charles II's mistresses. Inside there is a mixture of architectural styles with carvings by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and other ...

and Edward Pierce (who created the fine staircase), murals by

Louis Laguerre Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter mainly working in England. Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Anton ...

and elaborate plasterwork by Samuel Mansfield, James Pettifer and Robert Bradbury. The carvings above the main entrance porch were sculpted by William Wilson. There are formal gardens with a tree-fringed lake. Cherry Ann Knott has suggested that the design of the hall was based on

Crewe Hall Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire,Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 22 it is listed at grade I. Built in 1 ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, which stands around 1.5 miles from

Haslington Hall Haslington Hall is a country house located in open countryside 1 km east of the village of Haslington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. Early history ...

, where George Vernon was born. The property was leased for three years from 1840 by Queen Adelaide, the widow of

William IV of the United Kingdom William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded ...

. The east wing was added by George Devey in 1876–83. The building is now owned and maintained by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

.Sudbury Hall information at the National Trust
/ref> to whom it was gifted by the Vernon family in 1967. The house was used for the internal Pemberley scenes in the BBC dramatisation (1995) of Jane Austen's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

''. The house's centrally-positioned domed cap-house featured in the title shot of Yorkshire Television's children's programme The Book Tower.

Notes

References

External links

Sudbury Hall — The National Trust Museum of Childhood information at the National Trust
Children's museums in the United Kingdom Country houses in Derbyshire National Trust properties in Derbyshire Grade I listed buildings in Derbyshire Grade I listed museum buildings Historic house museums in Derbyshire Toy museums in England Tourist attractions in Derbyshire {{Derbyshire-struct-stub

Background

See also

Notes

References

External links