Historic hall with award-winning gardens you can only visit in the summer

The hall could be a nice place to visit on a hot day in the summer

Cambridgeshire is known as a county full of history with plenty of museums and historic homes to take a day trip to. Found hidden just outside of Peterborough, Elton Hall is described as an “extraordinary, romantic, part-Gothic” house.

The hall has been in the Proby family for over 400 years and is surrounded by “unspoilt landscaped parkland”. As the hall is still lived in, you can only visit Elton Hall and its gardens on certain days throughout the summer.

During the Second World War, the house was used as a convalescent home by the Red Cross to help soldiers with their rehabilitation. A lot of work had to be done to the house to help restore it in the decades following the war.

Elton Hall features a range of rooms you can visit on a guided tour where you will find “superb treasures” such as French furniture, a collection of paintings from Renaissance artists to more famous examples by Thomas Gainsborough, and several libraries.

While walking around the hall, you will see the Upper Octagon Room and Drawing Room, which are described as “the centrepiece of the house”. The Drawing Room was used as a library in the early 18th century and there are two small paintings that show visitors what it used to look like.

The hall features three libraries with two that are open to the public and contain a range of books from the 17th to 20th century. There is an “outstanding collection” of English bibles and prayer books including one owned by Henry VIII that was given to him by Katherine Parr.

After walking around the house, you might want to check out the gardens that won the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Judges’ Choice award in 2021. The garden has a range of features including a lily pond that has been planted with herbaceous perennials and small shrubs.

You can also visit the Flower Garden, which features a fountain and wisteria walk, or take a moment to appreciate the Orangery that was built to celebrate the Millennium. The Orangery is surrounded by a small garden that is planted with Mediterranean spices and oranges and lemons in terracotta pots.

Elton Hall and Gardens can be found just outside of the village of Elton and is only an 18-minute drive away from Peterborough via the A605. There is a car park that is free for visitors to use.

Tickets to get into the garden cost £10 for adults with children aged 15 and under getting in for free. Access to the garden and hall costs £18 for adults with guided tours available.

Tickets for the hall’s open days can be bought from the Elton Hall website. Elton Hall and Gardens are open to the public on select days throughout May to August.