Milton Hall is not open to the public for tours but we are grateful to Sir Philip Naylor-Leyland and Lady Isabella Lambton for allowing us to visit their Grade 1 listed home for a private guided tour by their Land Agent, William Craven.

Either a morning tour beginning at 10:30 or an afternoon tour commencing at 2:15 may be booked, subject to availibility as numbers are limited. The tour will last about 2 hours and the cost is £20 per person. Please arrange your own transport to and from the Hall. The entrance and parking arrangements will be advised. You may like to take lunch after or before your tour at the nearby Fitzwilliam Arms in Marholm Village. Please note that there are no public facilities such as refreshments or toilets at the hall and the visit is not ideal for those who cannot climb stairs.

The Hall has a fascinating history.

Milton Estate originally consisted of 23,300 acres extending along the Nene Valley roughly between Peterborough and Irthlingborough. The founder was Sir William Fitzwilliam, a Merchant Taylor, a Merchant of the Staple of Calais and an Alderman of the City of London, who was knighted in about 1515. The oldest part of Milton Hall is the north front, probably built in the period c1590-1610 either for Sir William IV or V Fitzwilliam (both courtiers). It was not until the mid-18th century that the 3rd Earl was able to enlarge the Hall by commissioning the architect Henry Flitcroft to design the imposing south front in the Palladian style. The Fitzwilliams also owned Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire – a 365-room house that is twice the size of Buckingham Palace.

In addition to the Wentworth estate, which was financed largely by the Fitzwilliams’ ownership of coalfields – dubbed ‘black diamonds’ they also owned most of the land in the Irish counties of Wicklow and Tyrone, and more recently Bourne Park Estate near Canterbury. When the 9th Earl died in 1952 without children, the title came back again to the branch of the family at Milton. Four years later the 10th (and last) Earl, Tom Fitzwilliam married Lady FitzAlan-Howard, but they had no children either. Following the Earl’s death in 1979, Milton Estates descended through the Countess’s family from her first marriage, initially to her daughter Lady Elizabeth Anne Hastings and then to her grandson, Sir Phillip Naylor-Leyland, 4th Baronet.