Ragley Hall, Alcester

Seven miles from Stratford upon Avon, Ragley Hall is the ancestral seat of the Marquess of Hertford. The estate last changed hands (by purchase) during the reign of Elizabeth I, when it was acquired by Sir John Conway.

Sir John’s grandson, Edward – the 1st Earl of Conway – commissioned Dr Robert Hooke to design a magnificent house, which was largely completed by 1680. The Palladian Room (in which the Festival will be presenting a number of its talks and concerts) remained incomplete at Lord Conway’s death in 1683, and was covered-in by his widow. Not until 1750 was the Palladian Room completed, when the Earl of Hertford commissioned James Gibbs to design the rococo interior, with its splendid, ornate plasterwork. It remains still, as it was in 1750, one of the country’s finest State rooms. Ragley is celebrated additionally for the huge mural The Temptation (featuring pets, friends and family members) painted by Graham Rust on the Southern staircase in 1983.

The House is perhaps more widely known for its use as the Palace of Versailles in The Girl in the Fireplace – episode 4 of series 2 of Doctor Who, first broadcast in May 2006.