Rufford Old Hall National Trust visit

We’ve not been to any National Trust properties for a while. On the journey up to Scotland, we needed to stop for a lunch break en route to our stopover hotel in Lancaster. With National Trust membership I decided we’d be able to stop at a National Trust place for lunch and do a quick tour around. The nearest open was Rufford Old Hall near Ormskirk.

Rufford Old Hall is a Tudor house, a smaller house than many other National Trust properties we’ve visited. It does make it handy if you don’t want a huge long walk through the grounds to reach the house. Instead, once you walk through the ticket office and shop, you’re in the courtyard and just a short walk round the corner to the house.

It’s very understated compared to many other stately homes we’ve visited. Being late summer the gardens weren’t full of floral displays. Instead you get to see some topiary squirrels. And some well placed statues.

The gardens are nice enough to walk around. There’s also a small orchard where you can sample the fruit for a small donation. You can also walk down next to the beech trees and canal providing different views to the more formal garden areas.

The house is free flow with no timing slots. It took us a while to work out how to get inside. Unfortunately you can’t take photos inside the house. Other than in the Great Hall which is where you start off. 

There was plenty to look at and find out about in the hall.  From armour to information. From a huge 500 year old carved wooden screen to a lovely ceiling.  I thought the screen was a little gruesome and dark, but obviously it’s a part of the house’s history.

We also got to see the drawing room, and upstairs rooms. One which we could look down into the great hall and see if from above.

Once our visit in the house was done, it was time for a visit to the tea room. Lots of people were sitting at tables outside in the courtyard area, but there were plenty of seats inside. 

Our timings worked out well because we got the sandwiches we wanted – nice to see fillings that were plain, without lots of mustard and other condiments we didn’t want. N said his chicken salad sandwich was good, and my egg mayonnaise one was nice -it’s always good to have an egg sandwich on brown bread rather than white too.

Once we’d had lunch we were back on our journey. Rufford Old Hall wasn’t showy, but provided a good break for us to look around and stretch our legs.

Find other family day out ideas in Lancashire

Have you visited Rufford Old Hall, or any other nearby National Trust properties?