Peckover House

Peckover House is a Georgian merchant's townhouse of 1722 on North Brink in Wisbech, home for 150 years to the Peckovers, Quakers who lived simply while running a private bank; the partly demolished Banking Hall holds an exhibition on the business, and the brick vaults that once held gold and silver coin survive below. Rooms run from library to cabinet of curiosities, but the two-acre Victorian walled garden behind is the draw, with an orangery of old orange trees, summer houses, a croquet lawn and roses, and it is free to enter. The tea-room sits in the thatched 17th-century Reed Barn beside a second-hand bookshop. Reviewers praise the friendly, knowledgeable volunteers and enjoy the garden as a quiet, well-kept wander. Tips from visitors: there is no car park, so use the free town parking on Chapel Road, a short walk away; the house is entered by steps, with a stair climber for the ground floor; assistance dogs only.