Things to do · Sulgrave
Sulgrave Manor
The Tudor manor house built by George Washington's English ancestors, in Sulgrave north east of Banbury, and a museum of the Anglo-American link since 1921. Open Sundays to Tuesdays in season, walk-ins welcome. Closed for the winter until March 2027.
Family-friendly
Worth the drive for the American story and the Tudor house together. The visit runs on hourly house entries with a talk, so plan around them. The family trails and Tudor dressing up suit children, and the garden is a good second half.
- Good: Walk-ins welcome, no need to book the house
- Good: Free car park, about 150m on gravel
- Good: Under 5s and carers free; trails and activities in school holidays
- Worth knowing: Closed for the winter until March 2027
- Worth knowing: Open only Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays in season
- Worth knowing: Assistance dogs only, and no pushchairs in the house
About
Sulgrave Manor is a stone manor house in the village of Sulgrave, north east of Banbury, built in the sixteenth century by Lawrence Washington, a direct ancestor of George Washington. Historic England lists it Grade I. An independent charity has opened it as a museum of the two countries' shared history since 1921.
What you see
The house is entered on the hour, each time with a short talk. It covers the Washingtons' home and its later life as a working farmhouse, with the Great Hall and the Kitchen on the ground floor. In the Kitchen children can play board games, dress as Tudors and grind spices. In the exhibitions, George Washington: Relics and Representations shows things he owned and images of him, including items first displayed in 2026 for the 250th anniversary of American independence. His black velvet coat is one of the collection's stars. Moving Story follows John Washington's settling in a new country, and Sulgrave Stories covers the 1914 purchase.
Sir Reginald Blomfield's garden, made from 1920 to about 1928, is on the Register at Grade II. Yew hedges divide it into rooms, topiary peacocks stand by the front door, and a 1785 Border holds North American plants of the kind Washington would have known.
The history, and what is disputed
Sulgrave's link to Washington is real. Several of the stories told around it are less certain.
When it was built
The manor's website says Lawrence Washington built the house in 1539. The listing is more careful: he acquired the manor in 1539 and built about 1540 to 1560. The parish's own history has it begun about 1539 and finished about 1560. He was a wool merchant, and mayor of Northampton in 1532 and again in 1545.
What is Tudor and what is not
Only part of what you see is Lawrence's. The core of the house and the porch are Tudor. The north east wing was added about 1700 by John Hodges, and Blomfield rebuilt the left half of the centre between 1920 and 1930, after part of the house had gone when it was a farm. The arms in the Great Hall's windows are reproductions, with the originals at Fawsley Church and Weston Hall.
When the Washingtons left
George Washington never lived here, and his family was long gone by his day. The listing says Lawrence's grandson, Lawrence Makepeace, bought the manor in 1610, and that it was sold in 1659, with no later Washington connection. So the Washington name left the house in 1610 by one reading, or the wider family's interest ended in 1659 by another. John Washington left for America about 1657, by one heraldic record.
The Stars and Stripes
The best-known claim is not supported. The Washington arms are carved in the spandrels of the porch, and the parish history says they are widely believed to have inspired the American flag. Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, calls this an enduring myth, and its scholar found no evidence for it. They are worth seeing as the arms of an English wool merchant's family.
Princess Elizabeth in hiding
The Royal Arms of Elizabeth I are high on the porch. The parish history reports a tradition that she was hidden here in 1554 and that the arms were granted for that service. The same source calls this enticing conjecture, and that is the fair way to treat it.
The purchase
The record here is firm. A British committee bought the manor in January 1914 for £8,400 raised by public subscription, to mark a century of peace between Britain and the United States after the Treaty of Ghent. The war delayed the work, and it opened on 21 June 1921. The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America endowed it in 1924.
Visiting
No advance ticket is needed for the house in season, and Historic Houses members show their card. The season runs from March, but the 2027 dates are not yet out, so check the what's on page first. Special events can change the open days. Candlelight Christmas, for adults, runs on Saturday 5 December 2026, 5pm to 7pm, at £20 including mulled wine and a mince pie, booked ahead. Private tours can be arranged by email.
Nearby
Banbury Museum and Gallery tells the wider local story, and Canons Ashby is the next old house north. Silverstone Museum is the other big day out on this side of Banbury. The Griffin Inn at Chipping Warden is a listed pub nearby.
Opening hours and season
Closed to day visitors for the winter; reopens March 2027. In season: Sun, Mon and Tue, 10.30am to 4pm, last entry 3pm. House entry at 11am, midday, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.
Facilities
- Car parkFree, about 150m from reception on a gravel path; ask about closer access
- BrewhouseTea, coffee, cake, cold drinks and ice cream; no full tearoom
- Gift and second-hand book shops
- ToiletsAccessible and baby changing, opposite the house
- Family trailsFree in school holidays, with a play and messy play area
- Assistance dogs onlyWearing their identifying jacket
The details
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Café · Shop · Parking · Guided tours · Events and meetings
- History
- Built about 1540 to 1560; open to the public since 21 June 1921
- Parking
- Free car park about 150m from Visitor Reception on a gravel path. Ask at reception about closer access by the side entrance.
Photos
The kitchen 
The courtyard Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The first floor bedroom Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The drawing room Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Location
Accessibility
- Accessible toilet
- Assistance dogs welcome
A historic house on two floors: step-free access to the Great Hall and Kitchen, so ask a team member. Shop, Courtyard Hall and toilets are fully accessible. Gravel and uneven ground outside, with an accessible garden route on gravel, grass and paving. No large bags or pushchairs in the house.
Places to stay nearby
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The Paisley Pear, Brackley
Inn · Brackley
A Marston's pub with a 46-room lodge on Northampton Road, Brackley, about 6.5 miles by road from Silverstone. It opens at 6.30am on weekdays and serves food from breakfast to 9pm or later, with a car park and electric car charging.
EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Canons Ashby 5.3 km away
Sights nearby
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St James the Less, Sulgrave
Sight · Church · Sulgrave
Sulgrave's Grade II* church, where George Washington's ancestor Lawrence Washington is buried before the family pew under its painted Washington arms. A west doorway perhaps Saxon, and a Tudor porch. No regular opening times.
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St Mary's Church, Canons Ashby
Sight · Church · Moreton Pinkney
All that stands of the church of an Augustinian priory at Canons Ashby: a Grade I fragment with a thirteenth-century west front, a fourteenth-century tower and the Dryden family's monuments. Part of the National Trust's Canons Ashby.