William Howe Windham had the four windows of the Great Hall of the south wing fitted out in 1840 with a collection of medieval, Renaissance and nineteenth-century glass which was installed by John Dixon of Norwich.

One of the finest 17th-century houses in Norfolk, Felbrigg Hall was the home of the Windham family and its successors for 300 years. The house itself has a distinguished and varied pedigree. The Jacobean entrance front, built mainly in 1620, is attributed to Robert Lyminge (d1628). A west wing was added in 1674-86 to the designs of William Samwell (1628-1676), with interior plasterwork by Edward Goudge. In 1751-56 the Palladian architect James Paine (1717-1789) designed a service wing, Gothic library, staircase and several rooms, with interior decoration by Joseph Rose (1745-1799). In 1840, the great hall was remodelled in a neo-Jacobean style by John Chessell Buckler (1793-1884) and George Buckler (1811-1886).

The Gardner Wilkinson Library.

Containing books and manuscripts left to Sir John Harper Crewe by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, a well-known Egyptologist of his time.

Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875) spent many years in Egypt from 1821 studying ancient monuments and transcribing the hieroglyphic inscriptions. He was a cousin of Georgiana. Lady Harpur and left Sir John Harpur his library, sketchbooks and notes.

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With peeling paintwork and overgrown courtyards, Calke Abbey tells the story of the dramatic decline of a country house estate. The house and stables are little restored, with many abandoned areas vividly portraying a period in the 20th century when numerous country houses did not survive to tell their story.

The site was an Augustinian priory from the 12th century until its dissolution by Henry VIII. The present building, named Calke Abbey in 1808, was never actually an abbey, but is a Baroque mansion built between 1701 and 1704.

Tyntesfield was acquired by the National Trust in 2002 and was undergoing extensive restoration on our visit.

An ornate Victorian Gothic Revival house with extensive garden and parkland, Tyntesfield was not intended to be an extravagant statement of wealth, power or politics. Its purpose was simple: to serve as a family home.

Originally a smaller Georgian house, Tyntesfield was transformed into a Gothic Revival masterpiece. Its bespoke architecture reflects the devout Anglo-Catholic beliefs of the Gibbs family. Here they invested their wealth derived from controlling the import of Peruvian ‘guano’ fertiliser.

William Gibbs had become a partner in the family trading company and by the time of Queen Victoria's accession in 1837 had, with his brother Henry, circumspectly steered their business through the French Wars and the dissolution of Spanish colonial interests. William became sole owner in 1842 and the following 40 years produced annual profits that would have reached beyond his ancestors' imagining. Gibbs' Peruvian office had secured contracts for the export to Britain of guano, the nitrogen-rich deposits of seabird droppings that became a principal fertiliser for the increase of wheat yields.

Kedleston Hall is an extravagant temple to the arts. Commissioned in the 1750s by Nathaniel Curzon whose ancestors had resided at Kedleston since the 12th century. The house is framed by historic parkland and boasts opulent interiors intended to impress.

Designed for lavish entertaining, Kedleston Hall displays an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture and original furnishings, reflecting both the tastes of its creators and their fascination with the classical world of the Roman Empire.

Inherited by George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India between 1899 and 1905, the hall also houses the many objects he amassed during his travels in South Asia and the Middle East, and in his role leading British rule in India.

The Temple of Friendship is located in the south-east corner of the garden.. It was badly damaged by fire in 1840 and remains a ruin. Built as a pavilion to entertain Lord Cobham's friends it was originally decorated with murals by Francesco Sleter including on the ceiling Britannia, the walls having allegorical paintings symbolising friendship, justice and liberty. There was a series of ten white marble busts on black marble pedestals around the walls of Cobham (this bust with that of Lord Westmoreland is now in the V&A Museum) and his friends. All the busts were sold in 1848.