The wooden mouse that features in the books is among many treasures at The Manor, Hemingford Grey

Olivia Abbott travels out to Hemingford Grey to discover a historical treasure and the inspiration for some of the best-loved children’s books since the war

The Music Room at The Manor Hemingford Grey

Lucy M Boston’s Green Knowe books have won the hearts of thousands of children since the first in the series was published in 1954, and are still doing so today. One fan is film and TV director Julian Fellowes, who has turned The Chimneys of Green Knowe into a film, From Time to Time, starring Maggie Smith.

But what many people don’t know is that the inspiration and setting for the books, Lucy’s home, is a stone’s throw from Cambridge, on the edge of the river at Hemingford Grey. In the care of her daughter-in-law Diana since Lucy’s death, The Manor is possibly the oldest continually inhabited building in Britain.

The house is Norman in origin and has a fascinating history. In the 18th century it was the home of renowned beauties the Gunning sisters, who people would queue to come and see, and it has had various Tudor and Georgian additions made, removed and replaced – sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally – a fire which destroyed a Georgian extension features heavily in the film.

The children's bedroom at The Manor Hemingford Grey

Entertaining the troops

But even before setting her books here, during the Second World War Lucy opened up her home to airmen stationed at nearby RAF Wyton, and would entertain the troops with twice-weekly gramophone record recitals. The 1930s gramophone with its enormous papier mache horn is still in the house and still working, and the music room is exactly as it was, even down to the artfully cobbled together mattresses, blankets – and even an old car seat – that Lucy and her friends used to make enough seating for the visiting flyers. Indeed, this room is in one of the oldest parts of the house and has seen more than 900 years of conversation and fashion come and go.

Lucy was also an accomplished seamstress and in her later years made a series of beautiful patchwork quilts, a collection that has an international reputation and draws visitors from all over the world.

All of these elements of the house’s history are on display to visitors, from the very fabric of the massive, thick stone walls and Norman arched windows, through to the original drawings and paintings for the Green Knowe books, which were all done by Lucy’s son, Diana’s husband, Peter. Even the actual toys that were played with by the fictional children are there to be seen and touched.

Lucy Boston wrote six books in the Green Knowe series

‘Children who’ve read the books are completely bowled over,’ says Diana, ‘I’ve even seen adults reduced to tears at being able to hold the little wooden mouse that features in the books.’

A rich resource

The Manor’s rich history makes it a great resource for local schools, and Diana frequently entertains groups of children, who can’t resist the temptation to get in the huge inglenook fireplace and look up the chimneys (with the fire unlit, of course) and listen to an age-old recording of ‘If you go down to the woods today’ on the gramophone.

There are spooky elements to the house’s history too – when Lucy first moved in it was known as the poltergeist house and local people wouldn’t walk along the towpath in front at night. Once again, Lucy used this as inspiration, and ghosts feature heavily in the Green Knowe books. But to find out more about why the house is haunted, and by whom, you’ll need to read the books, buy the DVD, or pay a visit to The Manor yourself...

The DVD of From Time to Time is released on 21 February. The Manor is open to visitors all year round by appointment. Call 01480 463134 or visit greenknowe.co.uk