Wimpole, Cambridgeshire

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Wimpole Hall and its grounds, north of Royston, Cambridgeshire, are managed by the National Trust.

Wimpole Hall
The brick-fronted mansion was resided in by the Hardwicke family and Yorke family between 18th and 19th century, and was developed a grand country house during the above period. Hardwicke and Yorke family were wealthy people. They employed the well-known architects such as James Gibbs, John Soane, or Henry Kendall. Visitors can see elegant-looking Reception, Drawing Room, and Gallery with a series of artistic friezes, plasterwork in the ceilings, all of which were designed by the above architects. The highlights of the Georgian showrooms are Bathhouse, Book Room, and Yellow Drawing Room, all of which were designed by John Soane. At Yellow Room, you can see the fireplace embellished with foliage scroll motif, which can also be seen on the sides of the mirror, the floral patterned plasterwork on the ceilings, and the Yellow silk panels woven for Mrs Bembridge.

The Hardwicke family had had an opulent life for a long time, but the 2nd Lord Robartes (later 6th Viscount Clifden) encountered the financial problems. He briefly used Wimpole for the country residence between 1899 and 1930. The Wimple Hall was used for shooting parties, social gatherings and family holidays during the above period. When 6th Viscount died in 1930, the maintenance of both Lanhydrock and Wimple proved to be an expensive nightmare. Gerald Agar-Robartes, as 7th Viscount Clifden moved to Lanhydrock. The contents of Wimpole were gradually transferred to Lanhydrock, Cornwall. The house was let to tenants, the last of whom were Captain and Mrs Bembridge in 1936. When they started living in Wimpole, there weren’t very many pieces of furniture or ornaments. They travelled a lot and Captain Bembridge bought drawings of bullfighters, paintings of cityscapes, Paris porcelain, sporting pictures, and prints of carriages. Mrs Bembridge brought mahogany furniture, pink and cream coloured cushions, ceramics and decorative ornaments, pictures of horses, illustrations containing jokes etc all of which are displayed in the showrooms, e.g. South Drawing Room, Ante Room, Breakfast Room, and the Lord Chancellor Room. You can also stroll through the housekeepers’ rooms and storage rooms for cleaning and food items, and Mrs Bembridge suitcase in the basement floor.

The grounds at Wimpole include the parterre garden, north of the manor house, where red, cream, pink flowers bloom with rows of topiaries between spring and summer, walled garden and kitchen garden. Vegetables and fruit grown on the kitchen garden are often used for ingredients for dishes served at the restaurant.

Wimpole Home Farm

The historical farm in the Wimpole Estate has been home to rare breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, goats, and horses and visitors can see how they have been looked after. All animals are very friendly and tame, and they will respond to you if you touch or feed them.

There are several historical buildings, such as the Model Farm with thatched roof designed by John Soane in the 18th century, the late 18th century barn and stable, and the Victorian Farmhouse. The largest farmhouse has been converted to the museum, which houses carts used for producing daily products. In addition to the table of the history of Wimpole Home Farm, there are a number of articles and photos describing the changes and development of farming around Wimpole and conservation projects to help to support the agriculture and farming business in future.

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