Kirby Hall

About the museum

Kirby Hall was begun in the 1570s by Sir Humphrey Stafford, a local gentleman and sheriff of Northamptonshire, who built it on the edge of the medieval village of Kirby. The master mason Thomas Thorpe worked on a house around a courtyard that mixed traditional heraldic carving with classical ornament copied from pattern books, and it is regarded as one of the most sophisticated Elizabethan houses in England. Stafford died in 1575 with the building unfinished and it was sold to Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourite of Elizabeth I who rose to be lord chancellor.

Hatton completed and enlarged the house and added a suite of state rooms for high-ranking guests. Elizabeth never came, but James I stayed nine times between 1608 and 1624 while hunting in Rockingham Forest. In the 1630s Christopher Hatton III employed the mason-architect Nicholas Stone to modernise the house, and his successor Viscount Hatton remodelled the gardens in the 1680s, creating the parterre that is recreated today in its late 17th-century form.

The family later became the Finch-Hattons, whose main home was in Kent, and they sold off furnishings in 1772, 1824 and 1831. The house then sheltered farm servants, labourers and estate workers and slowly fell into ruin. In 1930 the family transferred it to the Office of Works, one of the first country houses taken into state care, and garden archaeology was pioneered here in the 1930s. Today English Heritage looks after the roofless ruin, where displays in the state rooms trace its rise and fall.

Highlights

• Honey-coloured ruins of an Elizabethan courtyard house
• State rooms with displays on the rise and fall of the house
• Tapestry trail and the story of the people who lived and worked here
• Recreated late 17th-century parterre garden with a garden exhibition
• Audio tour included in the admission price
• Peacocks that roam the site

Permanent exhibitions

• The rise and fall of Kirby Hall – Displays in the state rooms trace the house from its foundation in 1570 to its ruin and rescue after 1930, with stories of the people who lived and worked there and a tapestry trail.
• Garden exhibition – An exhibition on the history of the gardens and how the parterre was recreated in the form it had around 1690.

Operated by

English Heritage

Admission & discounts

Prices depend on the day and are lowest when booked online until midnight the day before (off-peak weekdays: adult 9.26 pounds; standard days such as weekends: adult 10.79 pounds; peak days: adult 12.32 pounds). Tickets bought on the day cost more, with an adult gate price from 10.90 pounds. Prices shown exclude the optional donation with Gift Aid. Tickets are valid all day, and English Heritage members enter free.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: not available
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The whole ground floor is reached by a compacted gravel path from the main gate and is easy for wheelchair users to enter; paths in the parterre garden are loose gravel and the car park surface may be difficult for wheelchairs. There is no lift, and the Great West Staircase is suitable for most ambulant visitors with disabilities. Two disabled parking spaces are about 100 metres from the admission point, and visitors with disabilities can be set down at the entrance. Benches are placed around the site. Two induction loops are available with the audio guides, and audio guide text in large print can be borrowed on request. Assistance dogs are welcome, with a dog bowl near the admission point. The site is gently undulating and there is a signed drop from the bank to the parterre.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities

There is a family activity trail featuring Edmund, one of the resident peacocks, a children's trail and a World Builder trail. Interactive displays let visitors see how they would look in 17th-century clothes. Pushchairs are allowed, and baby changing facilities are in the accessible toilet.

Getting there & parking

Kirby Hall is on an unclassified road off the A43, 4 miles north-east of Corby. Sat nav postcode NN17 3EN. National Cycle Network routes can be planned through Sustrans.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

A vending machine in the shop serves tea, coffee and hot chocolate, and biscuits, crisps and sweets are sold. The small gift shop sells English Heritage gifts, guide books and postcards. Picnics are welcome in the grounds. Dogs on leads are welcome outdoors in the ruined areas, gardens and grounds only.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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