National Trust houses have been host to a wide range of colourful characters. However, news of their antics have not always stayed behind closed doors...

Here are just some of the more tasty morsels of history that have taken place in Trust property...

Cliveden, Buckinghamshire

© NTPL / Stephen Robson

One of the biggest scandals to rock 1960's Britain happened at the Cliveden Estate. The Profumo Affair arose from the Secretary of State for War's antics in the pool with a showgirl during a party at the house. The affair was short-lived, however details were released after the event, and John Profumo denied everything when questioned in parliament. Unfortunately Profumo was proved to be a liar, and consequently brought Macmillan's government into disrepute. John Profumo was later rewarded a CBE for his subsequent charitable work.

Dunham Massey, Cheshire

© NTPL / Nick Meers

The Seventh Earl of Stamford managed to embarrass his family by marrying the daughter of a Cambridge bedmaker. The Newly-elevated Countess had trouble dealing with her newfound status - reportedly curtseying to Clergymen's wives and being undermined by the household staff. The Countess died, but within a year, the Earl had remarried - to a bareback-rider in a circus act!

On the death of the Seventh Earl, the title was to pass to the Eighth Earl, however, he was a notorious gambler and was eventually sent to live in South Africa. There he had a son with his native housekeeper out of wedlock, though subsequently married her - thus making the boy legitimate. However, on the death of the Eighth Earl, the peerage was passed to the Earl's nephew.

Osterley Park and House, London

© NTPL / Bill Batten

19th-century socialite Lady Sarah Jersey inherited Osterley at the tender age of eight. Lady Sarah was an extremely active member of London Society and friend of Lord Byron. Her social activities were certainly noted - one social commentator noted that the hostess 'frequently made herself simply ridiculous, being inconceivably rude, and in her manner often ill-bred.'*

Petworth House, West Sussex

© NTPL / Stuart Cox

Lady Elizabeth, born at Petworth in 1667, was placed under the guardianship of her Grandmother on her father's death. Her Grandmother was certainly aspirational for her ward, and arranged an advantageous marriage to an eligible 15-year old. Sadly the teenage heir died a year after their marriage - and Lady Percy was back on the market!

The next wedding was to 'Tom of Ten Thousand', Thomas Tynne. However this wedding was not a happy one, and never consumated, Elizabeth eventually fled her husband. Tynne was later murdered, reportedly on the orders of Count Konismark - a Swede who had designs on the heiress for himself. The Count was acquitted of the murder, however, two men were hanged for the crime.

Lady Elizabeth eventually married the 6th Duke of Somerset.

Plas Newydd, Anglesey

© NTPL / Nick Meers

The Earl of Uxbridge left his wife and children for the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. This created a significant stir when the Earl was appointed to command the cavalry during the Waterloo campaign - a role that saw him hailed a hero and appointed Marquess of Anglesey in 1815. He  even reportedly had a monument erected to the leg he lost at Waterloo!

Montacute House, Somerset

© NTPL

This magnificent Elizabethan house was let to the (in)famous Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1915. Curzon used the house as a base to conduct his affair with the pioneer of mass-market women's erotic fiction, novelist Eleanor Glyn. One of Glyn's works inspired the doggerel:

'Would you like to sin
With Eleanor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err with her
On some other fur?'

This was presumably reference to the Viceroy, although there is no record of what he thought about the fur issue...

*Captain Gronow