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Masters of the Air was filmed on purpose-built production sets outside London but one real location was Newland Park at Chalfont St Peter, an historic Grade II listed mansion with 200 acres of private grounds that have been turned into private residential properties since the mini-series was filmed in 2020.
But the area where the Eighth Air Force were based, in East Anglia, has a range of fine stately homes and estates that are open to the public.
Here’s our top selection…
Sandringham
The Royal Family’s country retreat is one of the most famous historic houses in the world and is open to the public when the Royals aren’t staying.
Still maintained in the style of Edward and Alexandra, Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), all the main ground floor rooms used by The Royal Family, full of their treasured ornaments, portraits and furniture, can be viewed during your visit.
The museum, housed in the old stables and coach houses, has a collection of vehicles ranging in date from the first car owned by a British monarch, a 1900 Daimler, to a half-scale Aston Martin used by Princes William and Harry as well as a photographic exhibition which shows the history of Sandringham House from 1870 to the present day.
Holkham Hall
At the heart of this thriving 25,000 acre estate on the north Norfolk coast, stands Holkham Hall, an elegant 18th century Palladian style house, based on designs by William Kent and built by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. The house remains privately-owned and is the home to the Earls of Leicester but is open to the public for tours.
The Marble Hall is a spectacular introduction to this imposing building, with its 50ft pressed plaster dome ceiling and walls of English alabaster, not marble as its name implies. Stairs lead to magnificent state rooms displaying superb collections of ancient statuary, original furniture, tapestries and paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Claude, Gaspar Poussin and Gainsborough.
Ickworth
An Italianate Palace in the heart of Suffolk run by the National Trust, Ickworth has Georgian silver, Regency furniture, Old Masters and portraits by artists such as Gainsborough and Hogarth… and not least the magnificent Rotunda.
Visit Ickworth House and Gardens
Kentwell Hall
A timeless Manor House set in acres of stunning, family-friendly gardens and parkland, in the beautiful Suffolk village of Long Melford.
The House is structurally Tudor and a successor to the Kentwell Hall mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1085. With later impressive Gothic and classical alterations, the current owners have added their own idiosyncratic touches. There are fine early examples of stained glass, portraits of Tudor notables and historic tapestries.
Houghton Hall
A beautiful Palladian mansion in north Norfolk built for Britain’s First Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, in the 1720s. It is now home to the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and his family – a descendant of Sir Robert Walpole.
The Hall is set in extensive parkland, with its famous white fallow deer, an award-winning Walled Garden, a Soldier Museum (the largest private collection of model soldiers in the world), Cafe and Gift Shop.
An impressive permanent collection of contemporary sculptures is displayed in the grounds and in 2024 the venue hosts two major solo exhibitions by Anthony Gormley and Dame Magdalene Odundo.
Visit Houghton Hall, Walled Garden and Sculpture Park
Oxburg Hall
Home to the Bedingfield family since 1482 this stunning red-brick moated house charts their precarious history from medieval austerity to neo-Gothic Victorian splendour.
As well as early Mortlake tapestries in the Queen’s Room, Oxburgh houses beautiful embroidery by both Mary Queen of Scots and the famous Bess of Harwick.
Panoramic views from the roof look out over the Victorian French parterre, walled orchard, kitchen garden and a Catholic chapel.
Blickling Hall
Blickling is a complete Norfolk estate with a house, garden, parklands and a farm.
Philip Kerr, 11th Marquis of Lothian, left this estate to the National Trust in 1940, and he’s vital to its story. Without him, it’s unlikely that Blickling would still be around for you to explore, along with many other places that you love.
You can explore parts of the house he used privately, as well as for entertaining; and photographs, sounds and objects will create a sense of what it would have been like to be a house guest in the period leading up to the Second World War.
Don’t miss the RAF Oulton Museum and explore further into the world of the RAF men and women, based here in the war.
Visit Blickling Hall & Gardens
Felbrigg Hall
One of the most elegant country houses in East Anglia, the Hall is a place of surprises and delights, a mixture of opulence and homeliness where each room evokes the imagination.
The estate at Felbrigg comprises 520 acres of woods, with rolling parkland, a lake and waymarked paths.
The gardens at Felbrigg are a joy and you can discover the renowned Walled Garden, as well as the West Garden, home to the orangery, built in the 18th century.
Several of the stained glass windows in the Great Hall date from the 15th century, some reinstalled from St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich.
