National Trust opens first country house for children
The National Trust has opened what it says is the world’s first stately home entirely reinterpreted for children.
Young visitors have been granted free rein at the new Children’s Country House at Sudbury Hall, a 17th-century country house in Derbyshire previously best known for its richly decorated Jacobean interiors.
Following a two-and-a-half-year renovation, the property has been transformed into a first-of-its-kind heritage experience that aims to spark a “lifelong love of heritage” in youngsters. National Trust staff worked with 100 young ambassadors, aged up to 12 years, to devise and test ideas for the property.
The hall welcomed its first visitors over the weekend. The property has removed almost all ropes and barriers, allowing visitors to explore the space freely, with colour coding used to signal which objects can be touched.
The house’s grand staircase has been refurbished and can now be used by the public for the first time in more than 40 years. A rotating mirror allows visitors to pick out details in the paintings and plasterwork that decorate the stairs.
Throughout the property, activities are rooted in the historic use of each space. Toy boxes, puzzles and games are available in the long room on the first floor, where the house’s original occupants, the Vernon family, would have spent long hours playing on wet afternoons. There is a mirror ball and music in the property’s former saloon, while the library features mini armchairs and extensive array of children’s books.
The basement been transformed into The World Below, where visitors can prepare toy food and make clay models inspired by the house’s plasterwork. The Pantry of Destruction engages children in the basics of heritage conservation with an interactive display on heritage hazards such as floods, theft and pests, while the former beer cellar is now a shadow puppet theatre.
Children are encouraged to “learn by stealth” through activities like the portrait photo booth, which allows visitors to pose for photos using symbolic props that echo the symbols found in historic portraiture. Rooms are designed to appeal to various modes of play, such as building and problem-solving or imaginative role-playing.
The Mystery Rooms offer an escape room-style experience for older children, putting them in the shoes of the evacuees who were sent to stay at Sudbury Hall during the second world war.
The property has a long association with childhood. The former servants’ wing houses the National Trust Museum of Childhood, which features an extensive collection of toys games and dolls as well as items relating to childcare, costume and education.
Speaking about working with the young ambassadors, the house’s general manager Jodie Lees said: “This is a new way for a trust house to work with children, and we’ve built close relationships with the children and their families. The children have been part of this process and enjoyed sharing their ideas, thoughts and feedback but above all they love that this is somewhere tailored for them.”
Eleven-year-old Ambassador Mahnoor Daoudi said: “So far this experience has been amazing and it has been really exciting to know I’ve been part of developing it.”
John Orna-Ornstein, National Trust director of curation and experience, said: “I hope that The Children’s Country House will spark a lifelong love of heritage in the children who step through its doors.”
He added: “We try to be imaginative in how we interpret our places: trying new ideas, where it’s appropriate, to engage people’s different interests. But, as we’ve done at Sudbury Hall, we always do this through careful research, and with the utmost respect for the historic fabric we look after.”