Not to move into, obviously – we’re not that sort of website. For recreation. Visits to stately homes are booming: admissions to historic houses are up 4% on last year, according to Visit Britain’s stats from August. Is it The Crown, Downton Abbey and Britain’s perennial obsession with class, or the offer of a nice cream tea and a posh playground for the children?
The most popular stately homes in England are Hampton Court Palace in Surrey and Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. The top three National Trust homes are consistently Clivedenin Berkshire, Attingham Park in Shropshire and Belton House in Lincolnshire.
The Midlands and its surrounds have the highest concentration of stately homes, says a National Trust spokesman, as the big estates and houses historically were within carriage distance of London. There are fewer on the south coast, towards Europe, due to the risk of potential conflict, he adds.
And then there is the small matter of beauty and history. Chatsworth, one of Britain’s most gorgeous estates, unveiled its £33m restoration earlier this year; it has been buffed, polished and gilded back to its original glory. Located in Derbyshire, it is also far from any potential French invasion.
