A rare survival of a grand Stuart house, with formal 17th-century gardens right on the Thames at Richmond
Open to visitorsa National Trust place — check opening times and admission before you go
Ham House was first built in 1610, but what makes it special is how little it has changed since. In the late 1600s the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale, an ambitious couple at the heart of the Stuart court, remodelled it into one of the grandest houses in England, and later generations largely left it be. The result is rooms, furnishings and fittings that still speak of the 17th century rather than the centuries that followed. The National Trust has looked after it since 1948.
The formal gardens are laid out in the geometric style of the period, with clipped hedges, gravel walks and a Cherry Garden of lavender and box, alongside one of the more productive walled kitchen gardens in London. It all sits on the south bank of the Thames between Richmond and Kingston, so a visit pairs easily with a walk along the Thames Path, which runs past the gate. Marble Hill, a pretty Georgian villa, stands on the far bank, and Kew lies a little way downriver.
There’s a café, and plenty of room for children to run about in the garden, though the house itself asks for the usual care around old and fragile things. Entry is by ticket with an admission charge, and it’s worth checking the opening days before you set out, as they vary through the year.
