Good places to visit in the UK to learn about Tudors?

[lovecheese]

Hampton Court Palace is the obvious one, but does anyone know of any good museums or other stately homes that would be worthwhile? We are Cheshire/Derbyshire area but could travel.

Thanks.

I second burghley house, a great great trip, excellent education guide kept it fun and interesting.

Also it offers the opportunity to make it a combined history / art trip (art rarely gets a look in i find) as it has a sculpture garden (huge and great for running around doing an art scanvenger hunt!)

Was truely one of THE most successful trips i have done, much better than Kentwell which was slow, cold and very very overpriced.

If you're in cheshire then Bramall Hall in Bramhall near Stockport is quite good. It was (I think) a private house which Elizabeth visited. Nice gardens and park there too IIRC. I seem to remember DS doing some sort of treasure hunt.

Oh and near to me is Hatfield House where Elizabeth lived whist Mary was Queen I believe. But obv Herts is quite far from Cheshire!

bramall hall

hatfield house

Tudor ship in Bristol Harbour: www.matthew.co.uk

I'm not sure what the story is at the moment with regards to funding and educational visits; our home ed group had a free visit a few years ago but it looks like they are charging now. The crew were outstanding and very knowledgeable. They let us stay on board for an extra hour because we were so interested. I could have spent the entire day talking to them!

They also have an education centre onshore. The resources and staff there didn't inspire us much at all. Colouring sheets etc. Not a total waste of time if you are already there to see the ship, I guess.

If you're ever down this way Kent is teeming with Tudor history:

Hever Castle, Leeds Castle, Ightham Mote, Lullingstone Castle, Rochester Castle, Penshurst Place.

Some of those are quite near to each other so you can visit more than one in a day.

We went to Hampton Court Palace in late December last year - they were doing an amazing re-enactment of Henry VIII's Christmas court with actors wandering about interacting with everyone. The kitchen was cooking real food, DH got dragged in to petition the king, and the DDs were asked to help in a play being performed for the Queen. The whole day revolved around the breakdown of the King's marriage to Catherine Howard. It was a brilliant day, and I was very impressed at how professionally it was done, so much more informative for the DCs than just looking at a load of old rooms.