The state bed nobody unpacked
A 1730s bed with Chinese silk hangings that sat in its crates for some 250 years until the Trust took the house in the 1980s.
When the National Trust took this house in lieu of tax in 1985, it found a 1730s state bed still in its packing crates, never once assembled; its embroidered Chinese silk hangings had sat in the dark for some 250 years and came out looking freshly woven. That one discovery explains the whole place. The Harpur Crewe family lived here for nearly three centuries, threw nothing away, and withdrew so completely from the world that the telephone arrived in 1928 and electricity in 1962. Rather than restore and polish, the Trust chose to leave the peeling paint and abandoned rooms exactly as found and billed it 'the un-stately home'. For the record, it was never an abbey: the Baroque mansion went up between 1701 and 1704 on the site of a small Augustinian priory, and the grand name was bolted on in 1808. The route inside runs from the formal rooms, dining room, library and saloon, downhill into the deserted school room and the servants' quarters, with stuffed animals in almost every room: birds, mammals, fish and reptiles from Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe's collection, which ran to several thousand specimens by his death in 1924. It feels more like a vast attic of memories than a tidy museum, which is both the pleasure and the drawback. Rooms are dim and crowded with things; children under about eight may get bored or unnerved by the taxidermy, while older ones tend to love it. Pushchairs cannot come in (they are left outside, uncovered, and baby carriers can be borrowed), there are plenty of stairs, and no food or drink. Entry is normally free-flow with no timed slots, but on busy days and in the school holidays a queue forms at the front door. The other half of the visit, and for families often the better half, is the 600-acre park, a third of it a national nature reserve: ancient oaks led by the 'Old Man of Calke', which the Trust puts at over a thousand years old, herds of fallow and red deer, secluded ponds, and a walled garden with faded glasshouses and a rare auricula theatre for showing off prize flowers. The old Tramway Trail is level and wide, fine for buggies and bikes, and passes through the restored stone tramway tunnel under the drive; Calke Explore has a natural woodland play area, a kiosk and cycle hire on selected days. The stableyards and parts of the house recently doubled as film sets for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man and the eighth season of Outlander, and a walking trail links the locations. Practically, this is a car trip: about 45 minutes from Nottingham via the A50 or junction 13 of the M42/A42, postcode DE73 7JF, entry through the Ticknall gate only, free parking. Without a car, take the train to Derby or Burton and the Arriva number 2 bus to Ticknall, then face a long walk up the drive. A house ticket is £15 adult, £7.50 child and £37.50 family, bought at the ticket office on top of the park and gardens charge (£8.50 adult, £21.25 family), so a non-member adult doing both pays £23.50; National Trust members go free. The house opens daily 11:00-16:00 until 1 November 2026, then closes for the season, with any winter tours or Christmas openings announced on the Trust's website, so do not drive out in winter for the house alone; the park opens daily from 08:00 (to 18:00 in the main season, earlier in winter) and the garden from 09:30. There is no prayer room, and the stableyard restaurant is standard British café food with no halal guarantee, so bring what you need.
A 1730s bed with Chinese silk hangings that sat in its crates for some 250 years until the Trust took the house in the 1980s.
Peeling paint, abandoned rooms and thousands of stuffed animals left deliberately as found, as if the family walked out yesterday.
600 acres of ancient oaks and deer, and a level tramway trail for buggies and bikes that passes through a restored stone tunnel under the drive.
Ticknall, Derby DE73 7JF
Chatsworth is grander, more famous, dearer and busier; Calke is smaller, stranger and cheaper, and children from about eight enjoy the taxidermy, the tunnel and the woodland play area, while very small ones are better off in the park since pushchairs cannot enter the house. If you have time for only one house and have never seen a grand English one, do Chatsworth first.
Yes: the park and gardens ticket alone is £8.50 adult and covers the Tramway Trail and its tunnel, the walled garden and the play area, a sensible choice on a sunny day or when the house is shut in winter. But the house is what sets Calke apart from any other country park, so if you come in its open season, do not skip it.