On Easter Monday, we took advantage of the nice weather on Easter Monday to visit Nunnington Hall. Yes, I am aware it has taken me a month to get this published. I’ve been to Nunnington Hall before, but it was many, many years ago. Such that I don’t really remember it, and certainly didn’t have any photos of it.
History of Nunnington Hall
Nunnington Hall gets its name from the village of Nunnington, itself named after a nunnery that once stood in the village. There has been a hall in Nunnington since the 13th Century and in the 14th Century, it passed to the Grene family. In 1499, Maud Grene, the lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth of York (wife to King Henry VII) married Sir Thomas Parr, and so the property passed to him. He had a daughter, Catherine Parr, who followed in her mother’s footsteps by marrying Henry VII’s son, King Henry VIII. Catherine Parr was famously the last of Henry VIII’s six wives and outlived him.
In the 16th Century, the property passed to Catherine Parr’s brother, William, Marquess of Northampton. He started a trend of choosing the wrong side in royal conflicts, by favouring the succession of Lady Jane Grey over Mary Tudor. As such, he forfeited Nunnington Hall to the crown.
About a hundred years later, Ranald Graham bought Nunnington Hall for £9500 – around £2.5million in today’s money. He made many changes to the hall, which resulted in many of the historical features still seen today. Another member of the Graham family, Sir Richard Graham, was the second to get a bit of pickle with royalty, being a supporter of Catholic King James II when the Protestant William and Mary ascended to the throne. He was arrested, imprisoned, and only avoided the death penalty for high treason by being an informant for his accomplices. He was stripped of his land and titles and quietly retired to Nunnington Hall. The Graham family sold Nunnington Hall in 1839.
The buyers were the Rutson family, with whom it remained until 1952 when it was left to the National Trust. However, whilst the National Trust took ownership, family members remained living there as tenants until 1978, after which more rooms could be opened to the public.
The hall
Whilst much of the hall dates from Tudor times, it has been renovated several times over the years. Inside, it mostly appears as renovated in the 1920s in the Arts and Crafts style. This included the addition of indoor plumbing. Most of the hall is open to the public, including the main entertaining rooms and the bedrooms. The servants would have lived in the attic, and this has been opened up as an exhibition space. At present, it’s a series of nature pieces by a collective called Diverse Threads 2; later this month, you’ll be able to see entries from the British Wildlife Photography Awards.
Nunnington Hall is also home to the Carlisle Collection of miniature rooms. These are essentially small rooms, like those in a doll house, but not part of an overall house. Some are very intricate – there’s one of a music shop, where each miniature instrument can be played.
The gardens
Nunnington Hall’s gardens are modest; you can walk around the entirety in about half an hour. The National Trust switched to organic gardening at Nunnington Hall in 2002.
They are laid out mostly as they would have been in the 17th Century, with some nods to its 20th Century heyday. This includes a kitchen garden, and a new iris garden that was added last year. There is also a children’s play area, hidden away in the trees.
The house sits next to the River Rye, which gives its name to Ryedale which was the former name of the district council until it was abolished in 2023. Apparently, wild otters have been spotted on the river, but we didn’t see any.
Accessibility
As alluded to above, Nunnington Hall has been altered significantly over the years. And whilst it’s not as higgledy-piggledy as, for example, Little Moreton Hall or Bolling Hall, there is almost no step-free access inside the hall beyond the ground floor. The grounds are largely step-free, but not always on hard surfaces. A disabled toilet is available, but the nearest Changing Places toilets as several miles away in either Pickering or Malton.
Nunnington Hall is a mid-tier National Trust property, so entry prices are currently around £13 for adults. National Trust members get in free, as do RHS members and National Art Pass Holders.
There is a car park on the other side of the River Rye from the hall, linked by a footbridge, and this includes electric vehicle charging. There are four Standard (7kW AC, Type 2) chargers, although two were out of order when we visited. A £5 donation is requested if using the chargers. Additional charging is available in Nunnington village.
Bus services run on weekends and bank holidays only, from April to September. Two bus services run in each direction, setting off from Helmsley and heading to Castle Howard. Until the 1950s, Nunnington had a railway station, but it’s long gone now.
