Eyam Hall
Eyam Hope Valley Derbyshire, S32 5QW
There are any number of reasons to visit the Derbyshire village of Eyam, and the magnificent, unchanged Jacobean Eyam Hall is one of them. Home to the Wright family for over 300 years, the current incumbents throw the doors open several times a year so you can share the wonders. It's their home of course, so it's a real treat to have a legitimate peek at ancestral portraits hung in the stone-flagged hall, the tapestry room and the cute nursery complete with toys dating from the mid-1800s. Other rooms reveal costumes, precious artefacts and fascinating family mementos Look out for the resident ghost, Sarah Mills, who drowned in Wright's well and still answers the night bell. Outside, a delightful, bijou garden still retains its 17th century layout, with a knot garden, bowling green, potager and rose walk. The adjacent farm buildings have been converted into a working craft centre, with a shop and a rather classy licensed restaurant.
