Valentines Mansion
Grade II* listed house of about 1696 in Ilford with period rooms open free on two days a week, walled gardens and a café.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Valentines Mansion is more than 320 years old. It was built around 1696 for Elizabeth Tillotson, the widow of an Archbishop of Canterbury, as a new brick house standing in open country several miles from the edge of London. In the 1720s the City merchant and banker Robert Surman bought the estate and laid out the dovecote, walled gardens and grottoes, and in the 1760s the owner Sir Charles Raymond spent part of his fortune on a renovation that gave the house its Georgian appearance.
The last private resident, Sarah Ingleby, died in 1906, and the council acquired the house in 1912. In later years it served as a home for wartime refugees, a hospital, a public health centre and a council housing department. After standing empty for about 15 years, it was restored with strong community support and reopened to the public in 2009.
Today the mansion and its historic gardens are part of Valentines Park. The house is open to visitors on two days a week to see period furnished rooms, including a recreated Victorian kitchen and a Georgian bedchamber, with an audio tour that visitors play on their own phones. It is also used for weddings and other events, and the top floor holds studios for local artists. A gallery on the ground floor is open on the same days.
Highlights
- Period furnished rooms including a Victorian kitchen and a Georgian bedchamber
- Audio tour played on a visitor's own device
- Historic walled gardens with a Victorian rose garden and rococo grottoes
- Gardener's Cottage Café in the kitchen garden
- Art gallery and studios for local artists
Permanent exhibition
- Period rooms – Rooms furnished in period style, including a recreated Victorian kitchen and a Georgian bedchamber, explored with an audio tour.
- Founded
- 2009
- Operated by
- Vision Venues
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Entry to the open days is free.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible: no information
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
No dogs are allowed in the house except guide dogs.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
- Family tours & workshops
The mansion presents its open days as a family day out, with events, exhibitions and a sounds trail. School groups can book costumed role-play sessions.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Gants Hill station · 5-min walk
Gants Hill Underground station (Central line) is a five-minute walk away, and Ilford station on the Elizabeth line is a short walk or bus ride. Buses 396, 128, 179, 123, 296 and 167 run from Gants Hill station, and buses 128, 296, 150, 396 and 167 run from Ilford, to the Beehive Lane stop.
By car
Paid parking
Car parking is available at the mansion and is paid only through the RingGo app or by phone (site code 21405).
By road, the mansion is reached from the A406 at the junction for the A12 and from the M25 at junction 27 via the A406 east.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
The Gardener's Cottage Café in the kitchen garden serves light lunches, cakes and hot and cold drinks and is open every day.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
- Private parties
- Corporate events
- Weddings / ceremonies
The mansion is licensed for marriage ceremonies and is hired for receptions, parties, funeral wakes, business events and filming. The Drawing Room can be hired for events of up to 50 guests.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Audio guide | yes (EN) |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | An audio tour is played on the visitor's own phone by scanning a code in each room, and a sounds trail runs through the house. Costumed teachers lead school sessions for Key Stages 1 and 2, organised by Redbridge Museum. |
