Calke Abbey - National Trust

Ticknall, Derby, Derbyshire, DE73 7JF

Visited on 2 & 4 March 2025.

Prices

Free Entry for National Trust Members

House & Gardens:

£14 Adult, £7 Child (under 5s free), £35 Family (2 Adults + up to 3 children)

Park & Gardens:

£8 Adult, £4 Child (under 5s free), £20 Family (2 Adults + up to 3 children)

Facilities

• Car park situated close to all other facilities
• Café & restaurant
• Gift shop & second-hand bookshop
• Toilets & baby changing

Kids

• A small playground, suitable for age 5 and under.
• Seasonal activities during holidays.
• Baby changing facilities near to the café.
• Tramway Trail cycling route, along with cycle hire for all the family.

Dogs 

Welcome in the stableyards, gardens, café, designated area of the restaurant, shop and second-hand bookshop, provided they're on a short lead. Dogs are free to roam the parkland under close control.

Pawprint Rating: 🐾 🐾 🐾

Review of Calke Abbey

The promise of sunshine and warmth at the beginning of March inspired us to get out into the great outdoors to enjoy those earliest hints of Spring on the horizon.

As someone who loves to nosey around gardens and houses, I'm often disappointed when we can't go into the best bits because we have a dog with us, so hallelujah for Calke Abbey - dogs on leads are welcome to explore the gardens! They also allow well behaved dogs into designated areas of the restaurant and café with plenty of picnic benches outside too, which meant we only popped our dog back into the car for the short time we looked around the house.

The car park, play area, café, restaurant, shop and toilets are all very close to each other so it's very easy to nip back to the car to dump and retrieve, dogs, snacks, hats and coats, which makes life very easy. Also, useful when you realise you've left your daughter's coat at home and it's still very chilly on arrival. Thankfully she wore my spare jacket with style and we were able to swap and change as the temperature grew warmer into the afternoon.

Onwards to the gardens...

A path strewn with snowdrops lead to the walled gardens where we took great joy in nipping in and out of the dilapidated greenhouses and outhouses, capturing moments of calm and discovering characterful scarecrows and discarded tools along the way.

With tummies starting to rumble, we headed back to the busy stableyard where we ate a mix of our own packed lunches and bought sausage rolls from the café. Admittedly, we had food envy as we saw the plates being brought out from the restaurant, so next time, we'd like to try the food there as it looked a lot more interesting and colourful than the limited offer of pasties and sausage rolls available from the café...

To the house...

'the unstately stately home'

The history explains why the house is presented as it is, so, in a nutshell - in 1622, Sir Henry Harpur, bought the Calke Abbey estate for £5,350. Four years later, he purchased the title of baronet from King Charles I, which would proceed to pass on through a succession of male heirs (Derbyshire Record Office).

Sir Henry Harpur, 7th Baronet, inherited it in 1789. He was responsible for expanding the lime works near Ticknall, which brought him great wealth enabling him to make many of the changes to the house and estate that remain today (Monahan, N). He also started the collection of taxidermy and natural artefacts that are displayed for visitors to see in the Saloon and throughout the house today. 

Fast forward several generations, the money had depleted until Hilda Harpur-Crewe inherited the estate in 1924. She was forced to sell half of the natural history collection in order to pay death duties and also started to shut off many of the rooms in the house to keep costs down.

Then in 1981, when Hilda's nephew Henry inherited the estate (from his brother Charles) at a time of high capital taxation, he was left facing a tax debt which, at the height of the crisis, attracted interest charges of £1,300 a day (National Trust). He could no longer keep hold of the estate but was keen for it to be saved for the nation, so in 1985, it passed on to the care of the National Trust.

At that point, a couple of the rooms were restored back to their former glory, before it was decided that the others should be shown as they were found in the 1980s. Walking through the house, 'is a journey from grandeur to abandonment' (National Trust). The Saloon has collections of stones, shells and taxidermy displayed amongst the finery, whilst other rooms are dark and dishevelled with peeling paint and furniture stacked high.

A fascinating insight into owning such a vast house and gardens in the 20th Century without the means to maintain it. I was told by one of the NT volunteers that Charles Harpur Crewe lived there on his own without any staff for 30 years and during the 1960s he was forced to install some mod-cons in the Butler's Pantry, as catering companies refused to cater his formal dinner events without them.

As I pondered, how you could possibly keep on top of such a property without even a housekeeper, my daughter (who had now assumed the role of a princess), excitedly whisked me from room to room calling me Queen... I think it would need a lick of paint before I decided to sit on the throne of this estate.

^ The Saloon houses a vast display of taxidermy, shells, insects, plants, eggs and minerals.

^ The dining room is one of only two rooms restored to its former glory by the National Trust.

^ This felt bat, made by Hilda Harpur Crewe for her father, is accompanied by a note that says, 'Papa with Hilda's love.'

Finally, to mention, when we visited there was an outdoor trail to find Fearless Flynn's friends for kids, which was actually quite tricky to follow, but our daughter did enjoy making some mouse ears in the arts and crafts room. It seems they have different events on during the holidays for kids so check out the National Trust website before heading there to see what's on. She spent a good 20 minutes in the small playground and enjoyed her first ice cream of the year. We also saw plenty of children with small bikes and scooters heading off on various paths around the parkland so plenty to look forward to as she grows older.

The gardens and parkland alone could easily fill a day so we'll definitely be back for more days out with the fam, dog walking and exploring more of the outdoors soon.

A tiny tip to end on, if you're actually interested in learning about the history of the house then don't take a 4 year old with you. Go during the week, when it's a bit quieter (preferably on your own) and actually talk to the volunteers as you weave your way through the house. I did it a couple of days after going with the family and loved soaking it all in. Then find a sunny bench and enjoy drinking a coffee.

For more info:

Head to the National Trust, Calke Abbey website.

Campbell Cole products shown in photos:

• BC11 Crossbody Bag, Cordura, Black
• BB10 Sacoche Bag, X-Pac, Black
• Black + Blum - Steel Bottle, 600ml

Photography:

Ian & Felicity Campbell Cole

Words:

Felicity Campbell Cole