Hello and welcome to The Children's Country House at Sudbury.
We closed in 2020 for renovations and reopened with a fresh approach to interpreting and looking
after our heritage. The Children's Country House at Sudbury encourages our visitors to learn, explore,
and be curious about history. All while protecting the 17th century Hall and its collections.
Come with me for a behind-the-scenes look.
There's been a significant amount of investment and conservation work that's happened at Sudbury Hall
during our closed period, including the restoration of the great staircase.
For the first time in over 40 years our visitors are able to use the great staircase
to access the first floor, allowing them to take in new perspectives
of the wood carvings, plaster ceilings, and beautiful paintings that surround me.
The Vernons, who lived at Sudbury, had an extensive collection of books dating back over 300 years.
The 5th Lord Vernon in particular spent time travelling Europe collecting books and
sending them back to Sudbury. He also spent time in Italy studying Dante and
translating some of his work into English for the first time.
Our collections team regularly check their condition and we've installed custom-made acrylic screens
to protect them on the shelves to be enjoyed by visitors for many more years to come.
We imagined the stories and information held within this library, and brought it to life through paper sculptures.
There are many interesting items of collection in our care at the Children's Country House,
including these two miniatures on loan from the historic family. One of which is of
George Vernon, the man who built Sudbury Hall. But things in the hall aren't always what they seem.
What you wouldn't usually see in your visit to the Long Gallery is inside this lovely walnut escritoire
which the Vernon family would have used as a writing desk. And it dates back to the reign of Charles II.
What's special about this object is that it has many secret compartments. And these amazing hidden
drawers would be the perfect place for the Vernon family to hide their family heirlooms and secret documents.
This may look like a very grand clock on the outside but if you look on the inside of this door panel
we believe it's been fashioned from an old wine merchant's crate from Amsterdam.
The Long Gallery is the biggest space in the house. It's where the family
and their guests would meet to exercise, converse and play games. And at one point
housed the 5th Lord Vernon's expanding book collection. We've taken inspiration
from this to create a space where our visitors can relax and spend their time.
The Long Gallery has paintings adorning both sides, many of which are members of the Vernon family.
Every portrait has hidden meanings, known as iconography. This is shown through how
they're dressed, how they're sat, and what they're holding. We've used speech bubbles
to encourage our visitors to look more closely at the paintings to wonder what
the sitter might be thinking or feeling, and to learn more about their connections to each other.
Visitors walk down the Long Gallery learning about the portraits and then arrive at the
selfie booth where they're invited to create their own. Jodie tell me why interventions
like this are so important as part of The Children's Country House at Sudbury.
We have lots of wonderful collections, we've got lots of beautiful spaces, but we also have really great
stories to tell. The idea is that all of our visitors get the opportunity to really engage
in those stories, and within that collection and the spaces, to get a really great experience.
And hopefully remember that and learn lots, but become the historians of the future.
Thanks to the renovations and the removal of ropes visitors of all ages
can experience the Hall in a way they never could before.
The National Trust is proud of the places we care for and there is something for everyone to enjoy.
But we can only look after these places with your support.
Why not explore some of the places near you and come and visit us soon.