A very fine Elizabethan house which once played host to Henry VIII's second daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. As with any royal visit in Tudor times the entertainment would have been lavish, the owners thinking nothing of extending or re-vamping the property and its grounds for the royal visitor and her 2,000 courtiers in 1578.

Today Melford Hall is run by the National Trust, its exterior little changed in over 500 years. Set in magnificent Edwardian-style gardens surrounded by the remains of an ancient deer park, where Elizabeth I and her court no doubt hunted, the walks are superb.

Inside Melford Hall there is a fine panelled banqueting hall, Regency, Georgian and Victiorian rooms. Beatrix Potter sketched here on her visits and the house in home to the original Jemima Puddleduck doll.

Open from 4 April to 1 November, the house is open Wednesday to Sunday from 13.30 to 17.00 throughout the summer.

Where to stay nearby: Pilgrims Cottage, Lavenham