Collection highlights at Felbrigg Hall

In 1969, the last squire, R.W. Ketton-Cremer, gave Felbrigg and, unusually, all of its contents along with the entire estate to the National Trust. Today, Felbrigg Hall is home to one of the Trust’s largest collections. Here are some of the highlights.

One of the architetural drawings in the Felbrigg collection — Come and discover our architectural drawing collection

Architectural drawings

Felbrigg’s collection of 160 architectural drawings is of national importance. The drawings were previously in too poor a condition for them to be used for interpretation or research, but have recently undergone a large scale conservation project, generously part-funded by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust and carried out by paper conservator Claire Gaskell.

Close up of the chinese wallpaper at Felbrigg — Take a closer look at the hand-painted Chinese wallpaper at Felbrigg

Felbrigg's historic wallpaper

The wallpaper at Felbrigg is one of the most commented parts of the house by our visitors, in particular within the Chinese Bedroom. The Chinese wallpaper appears to have been supplied by the architect James Paine in 1751 and was hung by the paper-hanger John Scrutton in the spring of 1752.

Boulle furniture

The marquetry technique perfected by master ébéniste (Cabinet-Maker) André-Charles Boulle in the 17th century inspired the most gifted cabinet makers of his time to embrace this remarkable craft so much so that the process now bears his name. We have five pieces of this historic furniture in our collection, which are currently going through a three-year conservation project, partly funded by the Special Places Raffle.

Two people viewing the Siege of Amoy — This painting is one of the largest in Felbrigg's collection

Felbrigg's collection of paintings

Felbrigg's collection contains a number of historic paintings, many of which are housed in the Cabinet Room. William Windham II remodelled what had previously been the Drawing Room as the setting for the Italian pictures acquired on his Grand Tour. These still hang very much as he originally planned.

Hidden gems

Magic lantern slides

This is a collection of 16 hand-painted glass slides of animals and people. It is one of a number of examples of painted slides in the collection with Mrs Ketton’s initials marked on them, which means they are likely from the 1860s. We also have a magic lantern in the collection.

St John's Ambulance bag

This is a wartime St John's Ambulance bag, that it is thought could be from when the home guard was here. It comes with the complete kit inside, with bottles containing all sorts of things.

Toy taxi

This toy taxi was made by Garette in around the 1930s. We are not sure who it belonged to here at Felbrigg. It is mainly constructed out of metal and has a clock mechanism to make it drive along, and the headlights work too!

Snakes and Ladders

The game of Snakes and Ladders is of Indian origin but was heavily reworked when it was brought to England in 1892. The English version was made slightly easier with a more even ratio of ladders to snakes, and the virtues were renamed to fit with the desirable Victorian morals of the time. This version is from the early 20th century.

Rabbit on wheels

The collections team believe that this toy rabbit belonged to the Ketton-Cremer brothers. It is made out of cream velvet, with red eyes and standing on green wool grass. There’s a hole on the front, which string would have been attached to pull the rabbit along.

Felbrigg’s Jacobean south front was completed in the 1620s

Felbrigg Hall, Gardens and Estate Norfolk

Felbrigg's Global Collections

Felbrigg Hall, close to the Norfolk coast, turns its stone and brick façade away from the sea. Yet to step into its rich interior is to encounter the wide world beyond rural East Anglia. Here are a multitude of objects that were crafted by people or fashioned from materials sourced far from Britain’s shores.

Felbrigg's world connections