Glemham Hall House Tour

Glemham Hall is an iconic sight on the A12 as you drive between Woodbridge and Saxmundham. If, like me, you’ve always wondered what the house was like inside, then you could book on to a Glemham Hall House Tour.

The team at Glemham Hall got in contact recently to invite me to one of the ‘Invitation to View’ tours. The visits last approximately 2 hours and include tea, coffee and a slice of home-made cake – yum! These tours take place on selected dates during the year. You can find out when the next tour is taking place over on the Glemhall Hall website.

I’ve always been fascinated with old houses and who lives in them, but Glemham Hall held a particular interest to me after finding out that my favourite fashion photographer, Tim Walker, had used the house for shoots.

Glemham Hall was built in the Elizabethan period but structural changes were made in the Georgian times to create the façade that you see today.

The tour started outside the impressive Hall on a beautiful sunny day in August. The owner of the Hall, Major Philip Hope-Cobbold, greeted us, and we knew straight away that we were in for a fun afternoon! He was a gracious host and fantastic storyteller. He really brought the tales of the house alive.

Philip Hope-Cobbold was born in the Hall and one of his sons now lives there with his family. The Hall has been in the Cobbold family since 1923 when it was bought by Captain John Murray Cobbold and his wife Lady Blanche. When Lady Blanche passed away in 1987, her son Patrick took on the estate. He sadly died suddenly in 1994 and Philip (his nephew) inherited the Hall.

We began the tour on the ground floor exploring the Great Hall, Library, Games Room and Dining Room. In each room the group would stop, and Philip would explain about some of the objects, then guests on the tour could ask questions.

We then ascended upstairs via the stunning Georgian staircase (that has been used in many gorgeous photoshoots) to look at the first-floor bedrooms. I loved the wallpaper in these rooms; classic floral styles and big mural designs. The bathrooms with their big roll top tubs and tall showers were also dreamy!

Next it was up to the attic. In this part of the house you really felt a sense of scale of how many people would have lived and worked there in its heyday. The attics were maze like, with room upon room, and beautiful views out on to the Glemham Estate. They were filled with toys and children’s clothes from throughout the years.

Then we went down to the cellars for the final part of the tour before we headed out into the formal gardens. The gardens were designed by Humphry Repton in 1791 and feature a walled rose garden, which was still in bloom, even in late August.

The tour finished with tea and cake served by Philip Hope-Cobbold in the conservatory overlooking the gardens. For a moment you can sit back, relax and pretend that you live in this extraordinary home.

We really enjoyed our visit to Glemham Hall and if you like to discover local history then I’m sure you will love it too.

Glemham Hall also hosts Explore & Dine events throughout the year, as well as Weddings and opportunities to hire for photoshoots, filming and events.

Disclaimer: This was not a sponsored post. I was invited to the Glemham Hall House Tour to review but did not receive payment for my blog post.
This is an account of what I experienced and I am not in any way responsible for what you experience. For my full disclaimer policy, please click here.