Wightwick Manor

Wightwick Manor is a half-timbered Victorian house on the edge of Wolverhampton, built between 1887 and 1893 by architect Edward Ould for paint manufacturers Theodore and Flora Mander, who furnished it with Morris and Co. interiors. In 1937 their son Geoffrey Mander, a Liberal MP, persuaded the National Trust to take on a house just 50 years old, then stayed on with his wife Rosalie as live-in curators, adding Pre-Raphaelite works by Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Elizabeth Siddal and Marie Spartali Stillman. The Malthouse Gallery shows the De Morgans' paintings and ceramics, and Thomas Mawson's Arts and Crafts garden has pools, orchards and a woodland play area. Dogs on short leads may walk most of the garden, though not the kitchen or bridge gardens or the house, and are welcome in the stables end of the tearoom. Reviewers praise the volunteers, the large William Morris shop and rooms packed with decoration; the upper floor has no lift and closes over winter, with a virtual tour instead. Tips from regulars: use the entrance opposite the dentist, and collect your Manor ticket at reception before walking up the sloping path.