Sudley House

Sudley House is lovely and unimposing, unlike so many of the national trust properties and other historical houses in England – it’s free admission, and you aren’t followed around by dossiers who look like bloodhounds while you explore the house. I hate being followed by people who seem to think I’m going to pinch books from the shelves or draw on the wallpaper. I’m not, I swear!
I debated whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. I wound up with 3 because although the house and the gardens are lovely and peaceful and a breath of fresh air from the whirlwind grey cloud that is the city of Liverpool – there’s not a whole lot to do here. I mean, you can wander and explore and read the placards and listen to/​watch a short video about the house, but it is all very minimal.
I guess I feel like a little more could be done with the place, like making it into a living history museum or something.
However, there is a café inside and it is indeed a free thing to do in Liverpool, which you don’t find that many of anymore.
To find Sudley House, get off the train at Mossley Hill station and turn left as you come out of the station onto Rose Lane. Walk up until you see the sign for Sudley House pointing left onto Mossley Hill Road and it’s just a short walk up on your right.

Didn’t I say that Liverpool is full of galleries and museums? Well this is just another example. It’s on the outskirts but easily accessible by bus, and it’s free, so there’s nothing to lose really. This one focuses on Liverpool’s rich wealthy heritage and is actually a well looked after merchant’s house, 19^th century in origin and preserved as a gallery owned by the Holt family.
While it doesn’t try and dazzle or wow you the museum has a quiet dignity about it which is really refreshing in this day and age. It’s very attractive and rather charming too, and there’s plenty of art on show that dates back to some pretty impressive eras. Both parking and entry are free, and because it’s something of a hidden gem you’ll never find yourself dealing with hordes of tourists or buses full of schoolchildren — it’s a very peaceful retreat and extremely calm, relaxing and tranquil. The same goes for the lovely little café too, so you won’t go hungry or thirsty.
Grab the 82 or university bus or drive over for a quiet afternoon you won’t regret.

Probably one of the most overlooked museum/​galleries in the city, Sudley House is not as easy to find as its better known and better advertised sister venues across the city.
You get more than a well preserved stately home with Sudley House as the collection of paintings and sculptures found throughout its impressive rooms are genuine class and yet are all part of its history. Amongst the Gainsboroughs and Turners I was genuinely impressed to see the collection of Pre-​Raphealite works by Burnes-​Jones and Rossetti.
Obviously smaller than the Walker or Tate, Sudley offers a slice of history as well as art and is a good excuse to see a quieter side of the city.

It always baffles me how people in the Victorian age managed to sit in their massive, stately homes and not go absolutely insane. Sure, the silence is great nowadays as it bathes everything in a atmospheric dignity, but if you actually lived there it’d send you round the bend. No wonder they invented the harpsichord.
In this familiar hush sits Sudley House. Once owned by wealthy ship owner and merchant George Holt, the building was bequeathed to the city in the forties by his daughter. It is now an art gallery containing works by Gainsborough and Turner.
Most of the paintings here can stop you in your tracks as you squeak across the floorboards. One in particular, of an Italian island-​city, is so beautiful I wrote its title in my phone in the hope I could Google it like some lingering cheapskate. Afterwards, I found a glitch meant it had saved as incomprehensible gibberish. My phone is clearly wary of me getting too cultured.

Sudley House is situated on Mossley Hill Road, a few miles outside of the city centre — it has the only Victorian merchant’s art collection still held in its original setting — which is the former family home of the Liverpool ship owner George Holt.
Sudley House doesn’t feel like a museum, although when browsing the works by Millais, Turner and Rossetti you wouldn’t feel any different. The beautiful period furniture, carpets and wallpaper the makes the feel of a regular gallery disappear again. There is also a childhood room, a small world room and a costume room, which often house temporary displays, and tearooms.

Sudley house on Mossley Hill Road dates back to the 19^th Century and is so beautiful. I love the layout, and wish I could live there. The staircase is awesome and leads up to the top of the house and an amazing white round ceiling. The carved marble fireplace in the dining room is another amazing feature of the house. I spent a while in the costume room which is currently exhibiting Emily Tinne, and her six children between about 1910 and 1940. Check out the coat of antelope fur lined with figured brown rayon silk.
The history of the house is pretty interesting. Nicholas Robinson, a rich corn merchant, bought the land for £4,500 upon which the house is now built. Bargain! The house was finished by 1824 and Nicholas was living in it until 1854. In 1883 the house was sold to George Holt who made alterations to the property including the creation of a garden veranda. Claims to fame for the house include: one of the few period homes decorated in a Victorian style that still has many of its original features. It is also the only surviving Victorian merchant art collection in Britain still hanging in its original location.
The house is free to visit and well worth the effort to get there.

At Sudley House, you can experience the charmed life of a wealthy Victorian merchant family — home of the magnificent art collection of ship owner George Holt.
Works on show include paintings by Landseer and Turner to name but a few. There are contemporary videos and an introductory display to tell how members of family and household lived. Upstairs, the childhood rooms explore how Victorian children learned and played and a costume room features changing displays of period clothing and a temporary exhibition gallery.
Sudley House contains the only surviving Victorian merchant art collection in Britain still hanging in its original location. Best of all, entry is free for all and it is open daily from 10am-​5pm.

A well preserved 19^th century merchant’s house, this art gallery was originally owned by the wealthy Holt family, and was bequeathed to the people of Liverpool by Emma Holt — its last occupant. Differing from your standard city museum with its attractive, quiet charm, it features several important Pre-​Raphaelite masterpieces, including Holman-Hunt’s copy of his ‘The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple’, an early Millais, and John Melhuish Strudwick’s marvellous ‘Oh Swallow Swallow’ — spoiled only by the distracting glare bouncing off the glass of the frame. The house has some limited parking at the front, admission is free, and there’s a pleasant little café situated at the rear of the building (which used to be a lot more characterful, before they removed the potted palms and majolica). You’d be amazed how many local people don’t even know this place exists, so don’t worry about having to fight your way through the crowds — you’ll have it all to yourself.

Interesting day out for free. History of the local area, pictures of the past of how liverpool looked and how it has developed over time. Concentrates on the wealth of liverpool. There is a small display on the dresses wore in different eras. Good view out of the window and café exists for refreshments.
Located outside of the city centre but near the pubs and cafes of allerton road. The university bus or the 82 is the nearest stop or Mossley Hill train station. Worth a visit.

Sudley house is free to enter and has free parking and is a interesting day for all the family, Helpful staff and interesting museum.