Property
Gunby Hall is a National Trust property comprising a 42-room Grade I listed country house, a Grade II listed clock tower, carriage block and stables, and extensive gardens. It sits in Gunby, near Spilsby in Lincolnshire, and was given to the National Trust in 1944.
The main house was built in 1700 for Sir William Massingberd. The Massingberd family have been in Lincolnshire since the 1500s, with many serving as Members of Parliament, baronets or high sheriffs. Later residents included Emily Langton Massingberd, a pioneer of women's rights in the late 19th century, and Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, who served as the British Army's Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
Around the hall are 100 acres of park and gardens, and beyond that 1,500 acres of farmed estate. The estate once ran to many thousands of acres stretching to the Lincolnshire coast, but much of it was sold in the 1800s, making way for the town of Skegness.
We visited Gunby Hall this August for the first time. As longtime National Trust members, it had been on the list for years but always lost out to the more popular Belton House or Clumber Park. We had heard it was well worth the trip, though, and on a sunny August day, with two children well past their school-holiday boredom threshold, we made it.
First impressions: the house and grounds are beautiful. You can't help imagining yourself as lord or lady of such a fine estate, waking up to those views every morning. As you'd expect from the National Trust there is a lovely café and good facilities, and a lot of effort had gone into the Summer of Play activities, which include lawn games, Pokémon-themed trails, den building and more. If your kids are anything like ours, they can appreciate a historic building but also need to burn off some energy, so the activities were brilliant.
The formal gardens are a real mix, from more than 50 varieties of apple tree to a walled vegetable garden growing a wide range of pumpkins. A permanent collection of seven woven willow sculptures by local artist Alison Walling of Lincolnshire Willow made for a fun spotting game, and an exhibition in the gallery, Brushstrokes of Nature by Nikki Bennett, added to the visit and made it feel like a family attraction rather than just a walk in the countryside.
We were lucky to be given a short history of the house by a lovely guide before wandering through the rooms, most of them left exactly as they were found when the house was gifted in 1944.
All in all, this was a great day out, and one the kids enjoyed far more than they expected. Definitely a trip we'll be repeating, and one that may well edge Belton and Clumber off the top spots!
