Across the West Midlands, there are so many great National Trust properties to go and visit and enjoy. This feature pulls together a collection of resources you will find helpful including articles, useful links to web sites, and a gallery of photography. We're in the process of creating our own regional map of all great places to visit and will be added to this feature. In the meantime, use the National Trust website.

Some of the National Trust houses and gardens are in urban areas such as towns and cities. Others are out in the countryside in counties such as Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire or Shropshire.  There really is something for everyone. 

 

West Midlands County

Why not go and experience Back to Backs in Birmingham or Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton. More information here Birmingham and West Midlands.

 

The Back to Backs

The Back to Backs is on Hurst Street in Southside, Birmingham, at the corner of Inge Street.

The Back to Backs. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Roundhouse Birmingham

The Roundhouse is due to open to the public in summer 2021. It's on Sheepcote Street and St Vincent Street, next to the Birmingham Canal Navigations Mainline. It was built in 1874.

The Roundhouse. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Second feature on the The Roundhouse.

 

Wightwick Manor

You can go to Wightwick Manor, in the Tettenhall area of Wolverhampton. The Victorian manor house was built for the Mander family in the late 19th century, and the National Trust has owned it since 1937.

Wightwick Manor.  Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Moseley Old Hall

Moseley Old Hall is located in Fordhouses, north of Wolverhampton. It was famous as a resting place of Charles II on his way to exile in France, after defeat at the Battle of Worcester, 1651.

Moseley Old Hall. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

 

 

Warwickshire

Across Warwickshire, you could go and visit properties and gardens such as Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House.

 

Baddesley Clinton

A moated manor house in Warwickshire, it was home to the Brome family in the 15th century, then the Ferrers family from the 16th to 20th century. The last owner sold it to the National Trust in 1980.

Baddesley Clinton. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Packwood House

A timber framed farm house in Warwickshire, near Lapworth and Solihull. It was built for John Fetherston between 1556 and 1560. In 1904, Birmingham industrialist Alfred Ash bought the house. His son Graham Baron Ash inherited the property in 1925. He spent two decades creating a house of Tudor character. He converted the barn into a Tudor-style hall for dancing. This was connected to the Long Gallery in 1931. A decade later in 1941, he sold the estate to the National Trust.

Packwood House. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Coughton Court

Located in the village of Coughton on the A435, Birmingham Road (between Studley and Alcester) is Coughton Court. The estate has been home to the Throckmorton family since 1409. Practising Catholics, they were known for hiding Catholic priests, when after the Reformation, it was forbidden to be one. The hall was also involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The hall has been owned by the National Trust since 1946, although members of the family still live in The North Wing of the house (private). But visitors can see the rest of the house. Uniquely the estate has both an Anglican and a Catholic Church on the site.

Coughton Court. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Upton House and Gardens

Upton House and Gardens is near Banbury in Warwickshire, between Ratley and Upton and is now run by the National Trust. The house dates to the late 17th century. The house, gardens and collection was donated to the National Trust in 1948.

Upton House. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Charlecote Park

Charlecote Park is a grand 16th century manor house with it's own deer park. Run by the National Trust since 1946. It is on the banks of the River Avon in Charlecote near Wellesbourne, and is to the east of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.

Charlecote Park. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Farnborough Hall

Farnborough Hall is a private home, but owned by the National Trust. Near Banbury in Warwickshire. Only open to the public on Bank Holiday's, as well as Saturday and Wednesday afternoons. Photography is not allowed inside of the property. The Holbech family endowed it to the National Trust in 1960, but the family has continued to live here.

Farnborough Hall. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Worcestershire

In Worcestershire, you could try Croome or Hanbury Hall

 

Croome

Croome is south of Worcester near the M5 motorway in Worcestershire, and run by the National Trust. Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion, near Upton-upon-Severn. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for the 6th Earl of Coventry. The mansion house is owned by Croome Heritage Trust and leased to the National Trust, which operates it as a tourist attraction. The National Trust owns the surrounding parkland, which is also open to the public.

Croome. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Hanbury Hall

Hanbury Hall is to the east of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire and run by the National Trust. It is a Grade I listed building. The associated Orangery and Long Gallery pavilion ranges are Grade II* listed buildings. The house was built in the early 18th century for Thomas Vernon. The last Vernon died without heirs in 1940, and his widow died there in 1962. The National Trust took over the estate after her death.

Hanbury Hall. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

The Firs - Birthplace of Edward Elgar

Sir Edward Elgar of Broadheath was born in Newbury Cottage in 1857, he lived there for two years before the Elgar family moved to Worcester. On his death in 1934, his daughter Carice opened the cottage as a museum. From 2017 the National Trust runs The Firs Elgar's Birthplace on behalf of The Elgar Foundation.Located on Crown East Lane in the village of Lower Broadheath, near Worcester in Worcestershire.

The Firs: Birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Greyfriars House and Garden (in Worcester)

Greyfriars House and Garden is located on Friar Street in the City of Worcester, Worcestershire, and it is run by the National Trust. It is a Grade I listed building. It is believed to have been built as a house and brew-house c.1485 for Thomas Grene, brewer and High Bailiff of Worcester from 1493-1497. The National Trust has owned it since 1966. 

Greyfriars House and Garden in Worcester. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

There is also the the Clent Hills.

 

Staffordshire

In Staffordshire, you could try a visit to Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses, Shugborough Estate or Biddulph Grange.

 

Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses

Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses is now owned by the National Trust. Kinver Edge is about four miles from Stourbridge, and is on the border of Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The Rock Houses were last inhabited in the 1960s. One of them is the Holy Austin Rock House, was a heritage until the Reformation. There is also a network of caves here, including Nanny's Rock and Vale's Rock. The National Trust first gained part of Kinver Edge in 1917, later gained more of it between 1964 and 1980. In 2014, Worcestershire County Council transferred Kingsford Forst Park to the National Trust. The transfer was completed by 2018.

Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Shugborough Estate

Shugborough Estate is between Stafford and  Rugeley in Staffordshire and is run by the National Trust. Shugborough Hall is near Cannock Chase. The estate was formerly owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1624 it passed to William Anson, an ancestor of the Earls of Lichfield.  Following the death of the 4th Earl of Lichfield in 1960, the estate was allocated to the National Trust, and then leased to Staffordshire County Council.  Management returned to the National Trust in 2016. The 5th Earl of Lichfield, Patrick, Lord Lichfield lived in an apartment in the hall until his death in 2005, he was a famous photographer of members of the Royal Family. His successor the 6th Earl decided to relinquish the lease of the apartments, thus severing the family's direct links with the estate.

Shugborough Estate. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Biddulph Grange Garden

Biddulph Grange Garden is located on Grange Road in Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and is run by the National Trust. It is a Victorian mansion bought by James Bateman in 1840. The gardens are a rare survival of the interim period between the Capability Brown landscape garden and the High Victorian style. After 1896, the house was used as a children's hospital under the title North Staffordshire Cripples' Hospital, and later Biddulph Grange Orthopaedic Hospital. The National Trust took ownership of the house and gardens in 1988.

Biddulph Grange Garden. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Other great National Trust properties across Staffordshire include Downs Banks, and Hawksmoor.

 

Shropshire

In Shropshire, you could go to Attingham Park, Dudmaston Estate or Benthall Hall.

 

Attingham Park

An 18th Century country house, built for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, Lord Berwick, a former MP for Shropshire in 1785. The parkland and gardens now have Grade II* listed status and is owned by the National Trust. Is is near the River Tern. Also close to the A5 and A458. It is south east of the town of Shrewsbury.

Attingham Park. Photography by Daniel Sturley

 

Dudmaston

Dudmaston Hall is a 17th century house owned by the National Trust. Located south of Bridgnorth in Shropshire. It is close to the village of Quatt. The estate includes the hall, landscaped gardens, woodland, lakeside and farmland.  One of the famous residents at Dudmaston was Charles Babbage, a famous computer pioneer who lived here in 1814, when he married Georgiana Whitmore, the daughter of William Whitmore.

Dudmaston. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Benthall Hall

A 16th century English country house in Benthall in the town of Broseley, Shropshire. A few miles from the historic Ironbridge Gorge. It is still occupied by the Benthall family, but has been owned by the National Trust since 1958. The hall was built around 1580. During the Civil War the hall was garrisoned, and was the site of several skirmishes.

Benthall Hall. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Other great National Trust properties across Shropshire include Carding Mill Valley and the Long Mynd, Sunnycroft and Wenlock Edge.

 

Herefordshire

In Herefordshire, you could visit Berrington Hall or Brockhampton Estate.

 

Berrington Hall

Berrington Hall is a country house north of Leominster in Herefordshire. In the 20th century, the estate was the seat of the Cawley family. It is a neoclassical country house building that Henry Holland designed in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley. Berrington features Capability Brown's last landscape design. The house has been a Grade I listed building since 1959. In 1957 the 3rd Lord Cawley transferred it to the Treasury, which passed it on to the National Trust. Lady Cawley was allowed to remain in occupation until her death in 1978.

Berrington Hall. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Brockhampton Estate

Brockhampton Estate is run by the National Trust and located in Herefordshire near the A44 Bromyard to Worcester Road. It is close to Bringsty Common. On the estate is Lower Brockhampton which includes a timber framed manor house dating to the 14th century. The estate is vast, with lots of walking routes. There is a car park at the top near the chapel, or a second car park near Lower Brockhampton. The Brockhampton Estate was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1946 by Colonel John Lutley, in whose family it had been for more than twenty generations, although the name of the family had changed several times through marriage.

Lower Brockhampton at Brockhampton Estate. Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Other great National Trust properties across Herefordshire include Croft Castle and Parkland, and The Weir Garden.