Wollaston Hall is a standout Elizabethan prodigy house. Built 1580–1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby, it now serves as Nottingham’s Natural History Museum amid 500 acres of deer park.
Designed by Robert Smythson, the Ancaster stone mansion features bold Gothic-Elizabethan decoration funded by local coal mines. Hosted royals like Anne of Denmark in 1603; later remodelled inside but exterior intact.
An impressive structure. The Central hall spans three storeys with towers, pavilions, and strapwork; fake hammerbeam ceiling evokes medieval grandeur. Italian masons contributed ornate details like gondola rings.
 
Interesting facts...
Grade I listed, it’s famed as Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises.
A few ghost stories so many apparently that WWII fire-watchers avoided the area due to eerie shadows.