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Ripley Castle

Ripley Castle, ancestral home to 26 generations of the Ingilby family, offers guided tours that detail nearly 700 years of their history. Dating from 1555, the Old Tower exhibits the family's furniture, china, paintings, books, suits of armor, and features a secret hiding hole. The castle grounds include a deer park, lakes, woodland walks, and Victorian Walled Gardens which are home to the National Hyacinth Collection. Recently restored hothouses contain a large tropical plant collection, and the Kitchen gardens take in rare vegetables from the Henry Doublday Research Institute. Ripley is a model estate village, with individual shops, the Castle tea rooms, an art gallery, delicatessen, Church, and Farmyard Museum. Groups welcome, discount available. Open throughout the year, call for schedule. Tourist Info: +44 (0)1423 537 300, Tel: +44 (0)1423 770 152, Fax: +44 (0)1423 771 745

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