WIMPOLE HALL, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Grid Ref: TL 334 510
Date: 6 June 2013

Wimpole Hall lies about 8.5 miles SW of Cambridge, near to the Roman Road, Ermine Street. It is a property of the National Trust. In 2014 it received some publicity from a television series about the National Trust presented by Michael Buerk. It is a popular site for all the family as the hall has interesting architecture and contents, and there is a walled garden and a farm.

The house was started in 1640 by Thomas Chicheley, whose family had owned the estate for about 200 years. He was forced to sell because of financial difficulties and the house then passed through several hands. However, in 1938, it was purchased by Rudyard Kipling's daughter Elsie (1896-1976) and her husband Captain George Bambridge (1892-1943) a diplomat. They had been tenants for six years. They used their inheritance from Rudyard Kipling and the continuing royalties from his books to undertake a major restoration of the house and grounds. Elsie died in 1976 and as she had no children she left the estate to the National Trust. The furniture in the house was purchased by the Bambridges to be of the appropriate era for the house.