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• Wightwick Manor and Gardens

Mander, Mawson & Morris – a suburban paradise. A late Victorian manor house, built in the ‘Old English’ style by local industrialist Theodore Mander, Wightwick Manor is perhaps the best surviving example of a home furnished under the influence of the Arts & Crafts movement. The rich interiors feature many original wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings by William Morris, artwork by Rossetti and Burne-Jones, glass by Charles Kempe and ceramics by William de Morgan. The house sits in seven hectares (seventeen acres) of attractive Arts & Crafts gardens, designed by Thomas Mawson, which are Grade II listed in their own right.

Location: Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV6 8EE

Telephone: 01902 761400

National Trust website: Wightwick Manor and Gardens

Email: wightwickmanor@nationaltrust.org.uk

• Birmingham Back to Backs

An atmospheric glimpse into the lives of the ordinary people who helped make Birmingham an extraordinary city. On a fascinating guided tour, step back in time at Birmingham’s last surviving court of back to backs; houses built literally back-to-back around a communal courtyard. Moving from the 1840s through to the 1970s, discover the lives of some of the former residents who crammed into these small houses to live and work. With fires alight in the grates, and sounds and smells from the past, experience an evocative and intimate insight into life at the Back to Backs.

Location: 55-63 Hurst Street/50-54 Inge Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B5 4TE

Telephone: 0121 666 7671 (booking line)

National Trust website: Birmingham Back to Backs

Email: backtobacks@nationaltrust.org.uk

(All descriptions reproduced with kind permission from the National Trust.)