What A moated manor built in 1130 in Hemingford Grey, a village near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, with a four-acre garden laden with old roses and bearded irises. Lucy Boston (1892-1990), the house’s previous owner, gave it the starring role in her Green Knowe children’s books, which her son, Peter, illustrated. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England.
Opened The Manor opened to the public in 1990, soon after Lucy’s death at the age of 97. Diana Boston, Lucy’s daughter-in-law who now lives at and runs the house, says that Peter (her late husband) and she couldn’t bear to sell up, but they had to act fast to monetise their much-loved asset. “My pension doesn’t stretch to looking after a 12th-century house,” she says. “It was like finding a big, ancient baby on your doorstep.”
Collection The rare Norman house is the central attraction and the family has unveiled many of its original features. The attic, which is particularly important in the Green Knowe books, has a collection of children’s artefacts. The house also has an array of Lucy’s famous patchwork quilts. “Lucy pioneered what’s known as fussy cutting – a way of using the pattern in the fabric to create the pattern of the quilting,” Boston says. Lucy’s method produced spectacular results and visitors come from all over the world to see the quilts.
Given the age of the house, it’s no surprise that it comes with ghosts – or rumours of them. “The house always had a reputation in the village for poltergeists,” Boston says. “Whether Lucy’s work on the house – opening up the music room and removing dividing walls – tranquillised the ghosts, I don’t know, but the Manor feels peaceful.” She does admit to having a sense that she’s interrupting something whenever she opens the door linking her bedroom to the music room. “The house feels lived in,” she says. “But why not? These walls heard the Magna Carta being discussed.”
Highlights When Lucy bought the house in 1939 during the second world war, she hosted popular music evenings around a borrowed wind-up gramophone for officers from the nearby RAF Wyton. In this way, she put paid to rumours that she was a German spy. (She wore a dirndl – a traditional Austrian dress, a bit like what Maria from the Sound of Music wore – bought in 1930s Vienna to garden in.) Boston has bought a 1929 EMG gramophone as a replacement, which is played during visitor tours.
Help at hand Part-time volunteers and friends. There is also a gardener and a few hours of secretarial help per week.
Budget Other than a grant from English Heritage in the 1990s, funding for the Manor is through entry charges for the house and garden. There is also a shop that sells the Green Knowe books and other items. The house is open all year but by appointment only, with guided tours available in May. Special events including ghost-story readings by candlelight and performances, such as Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance in July, attract extra visitors.
Sticky moment The team works hard to show the gardens at their best, so it’s unwelcome when visitors dig things up or take surreptitious cuttings. “Gardeners are awful,” says Boston. “Last year, I was given some irises by Christ’s College, Cambridge. I planted them with a label saying ‘Christ’s’, turned my back and someone had dug them up and made off with them.”
Survival tip “Smile and keep going,” Boston says.
Visitors The house and garden receive around 3,000 annually, with about 1,500 garden-only visitors.
Future plans Funds to set up a coffee shop and redecorate the house are on the wishlist.
Louise Gray is a freelance journalist
Opened The Manor opened to the public in 1990, soon after Lucy’s death at the age of 97. Diana Boston, Lucy’s daughter-in-law who now lives at and runs the house, says that Peter (her late husband) and she couldn’t bear to sell up, but they had to act fast to monetise their much-loved asset. “My pension doesn’t stretch to looking after a 12th-century house,” she says. “It was like finding a big, ancient baby on your doorstep.”
Collection The rare Norman house is the central attraction and the family has unveiled many of its original features. The attic, which is particularly important in the Green Knowe books, has a collection of children’s artefacts. The house also has an array of Lucy’s famous patchwork quilts. “Lucy pioneered what’s known as fussy cutting – a way of using the pattern in the fabric to create the pattern of the quilting,” Boston says. Lucy’s method produced spectacular results and visitors come from all over the world to see the quilts.
Given the age of the house, it’s no surprise that it comes with ghosts – or rumours of them. “The house always had a reputation in the village for poltergeists,” Boston says. “Whether Lucy’s work on the house – opening up the music room and removing dividing walls – tranquillised the ghosts, I don’t know, but the Manor feels peaceful.” She does admit to having a sense that she’s interrupting something whenever she opens the door linking her bedroom to the music room. “The house feels lived in,” she says. “But why not? These walls heard the Magna Carta being discussed.”
Highlights When Lucy bought the house in 1939 during the second world war, she hosted popular music evenings around a borrowed wind-up gramophone for officers from the nearby RAF Wyton. In this way, she put paid to rumours that she was a German spy. (She wore a dirndl – a traditional Austrian dress, a bit like what Maria from the Sound of Music wore – bought in 1930s Vienna to garden in.) Boston has bought a 1929 EMG gramophone as a replacement, which is played during visitor tours.
Help at hand Part-time volunteers and friends. There is also a gardener and a few hours of secretarial help per week.
Budget Other than a grant from English Heritage in the 1990s, funding for the Manor is through entry charges for the house and garden. There is also a shop that sells the Green Knowe books and other items. The house is open all year but by appointment only, with guided tours available in May. Special events including ghost-story readings by candlelight and performances, such as Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance in July, attract extra visitors.
Sticky moment The team works hard to show the gardens at their best, so it’s unwelcome when visitors dig things up or take surreptitious cuttings. “Gardeners are awful,” says Boston. “Last year, I was given some irises by Christ’s College, Cambridge. I planted them with a label saying ‘Christ’s’, turned my back and someone had dug them up and made off with them.”
Survival tip “Smile and keep going,” Boston says.
Visitors The house and garden receive around 3,000 annually, with about 1,500 garden-only visitors.
Future plans Funds to set up a coffee shop and redecorate the house are on the wishlist.
Louise Gray is a freelance journalist