Sudbury Hall and Museum of Childhood

Our View

Sudbury Hall and Museum of Childhood are two contrasting experiences, sitting side by side. Sudbury Hall was begun by Mary Vernon in 1613 and completed by her son George between 1670 and 1695. The grand facade by William Wilson has more than a touch of the Baroque which was fashionable at the end of the 17th century, borne out by the hipped roof, balustrade and cupola. Inside, the house has many elegant rooms with plasterwork by Bradbury and Pettifer, painted ceilings by Laguerre and wonderful carved woodwork by Edward Pierce and Grinling Gibbons. The magnificent Long Gallery, reached by a superb carved staircase, fills the whole of the south front of the house. Sudbury Hall was the home of Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, for three years after his death. The house is now the home of the National Trust’s Museum of Childhood, a fascinating insight into how Victorian and Edwardian children worked and played, complete with a genuine Victorian schoolroom, and Betty Cadbury’s collection of toys and dolls. Children can play with old toys, dress up as a chimney sweep or a scullion, interact with hands-on displays, and watch archive films. In the grounds is a lovely lake and a strange, castellated Eye Catcher gatehouse folly, built around 1800.