Tyntesfield

Recently I visited the National Trust property Tyntesfield, which is in North Somerset and around 7 miles from Bristol. It is built in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, and full of really interesting collections, rooms, furniture, and pieces of art. It was on my list to visit this year, but seeing it in the Sherlock special trailer meant that I had to see it for myself! (And yes, I am counting down the days until that episode in broadcast). 

The central staircase

Originally built in the 1830s as a Georgian mansion, it was extensively remodelled and expanded in the 1860s. It was bought by the Trust fairly recently in 2002, and there are many rooms that are still full of collections from floor to ceiling. One of these is open to the public to understand how the house was when it was taken over, and how expansive the collections are. In many other rooms, the Trust has done a fantastic job of recreating the Victorian splendour of Tyntesfield in its prime.

The billiards table with electronic scoring

There are some fantastic objects and pieces of furniture on display throughout the property, including the late Victorian full-size billiards table, with electronic scoring, and its scoreboard, which both stand in the billiard room. Tyntesfield was, in fact, one of the first houses to have electricity installed.

The private chapel

There are a range of rooms that are open in the house, including the higher status rooms in the front of the house, and other rooms that would have been used by the staff. As we visited in mid-November, the house was being prepped for Christmas and undergoing conservation work, which meant that, unfortunately, some of the rooms were closed. However, there were lots of helpful guides of hand to explain what was happening and how the rooms usually looked. Tyntesfield is also open everyday of the year (except for Christmas Day), so I have plenty of time to go back and explore the rest!

Snippets of the top floor tour

The absolute highlight of my visit was the ‘backstage’ tour, which took you around the areas of the house that were occupied by later generations of the family, including the children’s nursery, the servant’s quarters and other rooms. The volunteer who took us around was extremely knowledgable, and with only seven of us in the group, there was plenty of time to ask questions, and take our time looking around. We couldn’t pre-book this tour online and although it wasn’t advertised at the ticket office, we could book our tickets there. From what I can see on the website, these tours aren’t happening with all of the extra things happening over Christmas, but it’s worth asking, and if not, just try out one of the other activities instead! As one of the most popular National Trust properties in the South West, it is also worth reserving your general house tickets online if you want to get in early on the day. 

Overall, it was a great visit, and I will certainly be heading back very soon. 

More information is available at: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tyntesfield