Rainham Hall is a Georgian house built in 1729 for shipping merchant Captain John Harle in Rainham village on London's eastern edge, and the Trust rates it among the country's finest early 18th-century merchant's homes. More than 50 people have lived here, from Harle to a Vogue photographer, and its restored 300-year-old interiors host changing exhibitions on four periods of its story, plus a Tag Trail Challenge for children. Outside are a community garden with orchard and vegetable plots, a natural play area with mud kitchen and bug hotels, a cafe and a second-hand bookshop. Reviewers praise the knowledgeable volunteers and find the garden a calm retreat a short level walk from the station. Tips from visitors: there is no parking at the Hall, so use the Tesco car park, free to customers for three hours, and the garden and cafe are free while the house needs a ticket. Dogs are allowed on short leads in the garden only; the house is not wheelchair accessible.
