Stately Homes in the Cambridgeshire Area
Cambridge and its surrounding countryside offer an exceptional concentration of historic estates, landscaped gardens, and grand country houses that tell the story of England’s aristocratic, architectural, and cultural heritage.
For guests seeking a refined base from which to explore these treasures, University Arms provides an elegant starting point. From the city centre escape into tranquil landscaped grounds and historic properties filled with decorative arts and period furnishings. What a treat.
The area is rich with heritage and attractions perfect for day trips, weekend excursions, and luxury cultural breaks.
Below is a curated guide to some of the finest stately homes near Cambridge, ideal for visitors interested in history, architecture, gardens, but most of all quintessentially English countryside experiences. Make sure to stop by the cafés to devour and compare their scone offerings.
Anglesey Abbey
Just a short journey from Cambridge lies Anglesey Abbey, a stunning National Trust property combining a Jacobean style house with beautifully maintained gardens and woodland walks. Known particularly for its winter garden, Anglesey Abbey is famous for its snowdrops, structured hedging, and year-round colour. Often a seasonally appropriate sculpture trail to enjoy as you wander the grounds as well as a woodland play area and den building area it is perfect for a family day out.
Did you know - The medieval abbey church has never truly disappeared, it simply lies beneath your feet.
Standing on the front lawn, you're directly above the buried remains of the original priory church. Archaeological investigations have revealed much of its footprint beneath the grass, and in certain aerial photographs, the outline of the church can still be made out. Every day, visitors walk across this ground, often unaware that beneath them rest the foundations of a 13th-century monastic church.
Anglesey Abbey is a 22 minute drive from University Arms
Wimpole Hall and Estate
Wimpole Hall and Estate is one of the most impressive country estates in East Anglia. This expansive National Trust estate features a grand neoclassical mansion, working farm, walled gardens, and sweeping parkland designed by Capability Brown.
Visitors can explore opulent interiors, meet rare breed animals, and enjoy miles of walking trails across one of the region’s most complete historic estates. It is a must visit for anyone interested in English heritage estates and countryside grandeur.
Did you know - The Hall was almost empty before the Second World War. Many visitors assume the furniture has always been there. In reality, when Elsie Bambridge bought Wimpole in 1938, previous owners had dispersed much of the original contents. She spent decades tracking down pieces connected with the estate and furnishing the house so convincingly that it feels as though little had changed.
Wimpole Hall and Estate is a 25 minute drive from University Arms.
The Manor, Hemingford Grey
The Manor, Hemingford Grey is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England, with origins dating back nearly 900 years. This enchanting manor is closely associated with writer Lucy Boston, whose “Green Knowe” children’s novels were inspired by the house and its gardens and whose intricate patchworks are on display at the house.
Unlike larger estates, Hemingford Grey offers an intimate and atmospheric experience, blending medieval architecture with romantic gardens filled with topiary, roses, and hidden corners.
Did you know - During the Second World War, the Manor became an informal cultural refuge. Rather than simply being a country house, Lucy Boston opened it to servicemen from nearby RAF stations, wounded American servicemen recovering in Cambridgeshire hospitals, and members of the Free French community. Gramophone concerts, conversation, and hospitality became a regular feature of wartime life there, an aspect of the house's history that is much less widely known than its literary connections.
The Manor, Hemingford Grey is a 33 minute drive from University Arms.
Audley End House
Just outside Cambridge in Essex sits Audley End House, one of England’s grandest Jacobean country houses. Once a vast mansion rivalling royal palaces, Audley End is renowned for its lavish interiors, sweeping staircases, and beautifully restored service wing.
The estate also includes landscaped gardens, a Victorian kitchen garden, and regular historical reenactments that bring its rich past to life. If you have little ones with you, trot over to the stable yard and meet the magnificent resident horses, then run over to the wooden play area, inspired by the property and includes its very own mansion to climb and wooden horses to ride.
Did you know - The house was an 18th-century "smart home." Sir John Griffin Griffin wasn't just redecorating, he was obsessed with technology. By the 1760s, water was being pumped from the nearby river to roof tanks by a waterwheel and piped throughout the house, an extraordinary luxury at the time. He also bought some of Britain's earliest Argand lamps, which produced roughly the light of ten candles each. Two originals still survive in the Dining Room, but many visitors walk past them without realising they're looking at cutting-edge technology from the 1780s.
Audley End House is a 33 minute drive from University Arms.
Wrest Park
Wrest Park offers one of the finest examples of French style formal gardens in England. The long canal, elegant parterres, and neoclassical mansion create a strikingly continental feel just a short drive from Cambridge.
Inside the house, visitors can explore richly decorated interiors reflecting centuries of aristocratic life. Wrest Park is particularly popular among garden enthusiasts, architecture lovers and more recently Bridgerton fans as some rooms and exteriors were featured as the home of the Fuller family in the Netflix series.
Wrest Park offers a variety of free tours from wallpaper tours, garden, tree and statue tours and even a household servants tour. Simply check the dates and times they’re available when you’re planning your visit.
The spacious café within the Walled Garden offers locally sourced produce, with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the children’s play area. Families with energy to burn can grab an activity backpack and an audio trail designed for kids, and head out to explore the grounds. There are more than 40 statues dotted around the grounds. Can you find them all?
Did you know - If you stand on the central axis beside the Long Water, almost every major avenue, statue, pavilion, and vista aligns as part of a carefully orchestrated sequence of views. Rather than revealing the landscape all at once, the estate was deliberately designed to unfold gradually as visitors walked through it, a remarkably sophisticated form of landscape storytelling that only becomes apparent once you know where to look.
Wrest Park House is a 1 hour drive from University Arms.
Kentwell Hall
Kentwell Hall is a beautifully restored Tudor manor known for its immersive historical events and costumed interpretations of Tudor and Victorian life. Visitors can step back in time through living history days, where crafts, cooking, and daily life are recreated with remarkable detail by over 200 of Kentwell’s skilled Living Historians.
The Hall has been home to a succession of owners, with each having left their own mark. Bought in a near derelict state by Patrick and Judith Phillips in 1971 when they embarked on a grand scale restoration of the Hall and Gardens, while making it their family home. The owners occasionally give fascinating and personal tours of the House.
The house itself is surrounded by moats, gardens, and parkland, offering a quintessential East Anglian heritage experience. Unexpected surprises can be found at every turn, for both adults and children, from the brick paved Maze in the Courtyard to the huge, topiary Yew Castle.
Did you know – When Queen Elizabeth I visited, she was supposedly unimpressed and jokingly called it “Hungry Hall”. It was a mocking remark about poor hospitality, though historians treat it as folklore rather than confirmed fact.
Kentwell Hall is a 1 hour, 6 minute drive from University Arms.
Elton Hall
Elton Hall is a historic country house near Peterborough and has been the home of the Proby family since 1660. Standing in landscaped parkland beside the River Nene, the hall combines architectural features from the 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, creating a distinctive blend of medieval, Gothic and Victorian styles.
Generations of the Proby family enlarged and remodelled the house, adding grand interiors and extensive art collections with works by artists such as Gainsborough, Reynolds and Constable, along with three libraries holding more than 10,000 books.
The restored gardens feature formal borders, topiary, lily ponds, a knot garden and a Gothic orangery. Still privately owned and occupied today, Elton Hall opens to visitors during the summer and offers a fascinating insight into over 500 years of English history.
For cricket fans the grounds of Elton Hall provide a picturesque setting for the Elton Park Cricket Club. Friendly matches are played on various dates throughout the summer and is a lovely spot for a summer evening's cricket.
Did you know - Legends say a ghostly figure appears near a small clump of trees close to the house. The spirit is said to be Robert Sapcote, a former landowner connected with the medieval history of the estate. According to folklore, he was a man who disliked losing at cards and allegedly robbed guests on their way home after gambling losses, which is why his spirit is thought to linger there.
Elton Hall is a 52 minute drive from University Arms.
Burghley House
Burghley House has a jam packed events calendar, there truly is something for everyone from classic Ibiza to birds of prey to wildflower walks at dawn. One of the grandest Elizabethan houses in England, built between 1555 and 1587 for William Cecil, the chief adviser to Elizabeth I. It is a masterpiece of Tudor architecture and one of the finest surviving examples of a sixteenth century prodigy house. Designed in a grand Tudor style, the house features magnificent state rooms, ornate ceilings, and an internationally important collection of paintings, furniture, and ceramics. The surrounding parkland was landscaped by Capability Brown and includes beautiful gardens, lakes, and woodland walks making it the perfect location for these varied and popular events.
Did you know - Burghley still carries physical traces of real wartime damage that most people walk past without noticing. In 1940, a stray German bomb exploded nearby, and while the house survived, the blast shattered windows and scattered debris across the estate; you can still see shrapnel scars in some of the ancient trees that effectively shielded the building.
Burghley House is a 1 hour, 4 minute drive from University Arms.
Kirby Hall
Kirby Hall is one of England’s finest surviving Elizabethan country houses, located near the village of Gretton and close to Corby. Construction began in 1570 for Sir Humphrey Stafford and was later expanded by Sir Christopher Hatton, one of Elizabeth I’s closest advisers and Lord Chancellor. The house became renowned for its innovative architecture and grand state rooms designed to impress royal visitors. James I visited the house nine times between 1608 and 1624, making it an important royal residence of the period.
Although now partly roofless, Kirby Hall remains an impressive romantic ruin. Its magnificent courtyard, Great Hall and state apartments survive, while the formal gardens have been restored to reflect their late seventeenth-century appearance. You’ll also find out about the people connected to Kirby Hall across the centuries, including the black servant James Chappell, a local hero who rescued the fourth Sir Christopher and his daughters from disaster.
Did you know - Kirby Hall wasn’t built in an empty landscape. The entire formal garden system was laid out directly over a medieval village that was progressively erased in the late 16th–early 17th century. Archaeology shows that streets, house platforms, and even parts of the church survive as buried earthworks beneath the lawns.
Kirby Hall is a 1 hour, 12 minute drive from University Arms.
Peckover House
Peckover House and Garden is a beautiful Georgian townhouse in the heart of Wisbech. Built in 1722, it became the home of the Peckover family, a prominent Quaker banking family, who lived there for around 150 years. Despite its modest exterior, the house contains elegant period rooms, fine plasterwork, a library and displays reflecting the family’s banking, charitable and cultural interests.
The property is especially famous for its Victorian walled garden, covering more than two acres and featuring roses, an orangery, rare trees, lawns and colourful borders. Given to the National Trust in 1943, Peckover House offers visitors a fascinating glimpse into Georgian life and the history of one of Wisbech’s most influential families.
Did you know -Known for their philanthropy, the Peckovers were concerned with various causes and campaigned for the abolition of slavery, pacificism and improvements in education.
Peckover House is a 1 hour, 24 minute drive from University Arms.
Sandringham Estate
Sandringham House is the private country retreat of the British Royal Family and has been owned by the monarchy since 1862. Set within a vast estate in Norfolk, the house is renowned for its elegant interiors, royal collections and beautifully maintained gardens. The estate is closely associated with Christmas celebrations of the Royal Family and remains one of the most famous royal residences in the United Kingdom.
During a visit, you can expect to tour the house's state rooms, explore formal gardens, walk woodland and parkland trails, and visit the museum displaying royal vehicles, memorabilia and historical exhibits. With events and experiences running throughout the year check their website to see what’s on the day of your visit; a stunning destination for history enthusiasts, garden lovers and families alike.
Did you know - The clocks used to be set differently.Until the 1930s, the estate operated slightly independently, with clocks sometimes run differently from the rest of the country to suit royal routines.
Sandringham Estate is a 1 hour, 16 minute drive from University Arms.
A Luxury Base for Exploring Historic Estates
Staying at University Arms Hotel Cambridge places guests at the centre of one of England’s most historically rich regions. With excellent access to Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, and beyond, it is an ideal base for exploring stately homes, manor houses, and royal estates.
Whether you are drawn to the grandeur of Burghley House, the intimacy of Hemingford Grey, or the royal heritage of Sandringham, each destination offers a distinct window into England’s architectural and cultural legacy.
For visitors seeking heritage tours near Cambridge or stately home day trips from Cambridge, University Arms provides the perfect starting point for an unforgettable journey through Britain’s most treasured country estates.
Top Tip - If you are planning on visiting a selection of these properties look into becoming a member of the National Trust or English Heritage.