A June Day

Wallington Hall in Northumberland is one of the most beautiful estates to visit, approached by tree-covered lanes and green meadows. Twisting footpaths lead to the well-signposted Walled Garden.  According to the picture postcard on sale in the National Trust shop this is what we should have seen.

Wallington borders

                                                           

However with relentless rain beating down, foliage contributing extra dampness and a path that resembled a stream, we accepted defeat and turned our attention to the Hall itself. Impressive yet compact, it was owned by generations of the Blackett and Trevelyan families and is centred round the remarkable Central Hall where huge pre-Raphaelite paintings cover the walls and depict the history of Northumberland.

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The main rooms are south-facing and elegant with decorated ceilings and deep window seats, and in one there is a special collection known as Lady Wilson’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Yet it is a friendly, family home and has a room filled with dolls’ houses and a huge number of tin soldiers ready for battle. There’s a Nursery where the walls are decorated with tapestries and appliquéd illustrations of nursery rhymes.

Throughout the house many of the wallpapers are pale and flowery and date back at least a hundred years.

Black and white photographs line the walls of the corridor outside the kitchen. They show smiling servants, obviously happy and appreciated by their forward thinking employers at Wallington Hall.