Charles' heirs on his death in 1739 were his aunts, Mary Graham and Catherine, Lady Widdrington, who were granted joint possession of the manor of Nunnington in 1748.

Mary died unmarried and Lady Widdrington left her estates to Sir Bellingham Graham, Bt., of Norton Conyers.

[8] The Hall stands within 8 acres (32,000 m2) of organically managed grounds, with the main walled garden lying to the south of the building.

The orchards are managed as wildflower meadows containing flowers such as cowslip, primrose, snake's head fritillary, buttercup and camassia all growing below the fruit trees of which most are traditional Ryedale varieties.

The hunting trophies consist not only of animal hides and heads, elephant, rhinoceros, lion, tiger and antelope among them, but also of the souvenirs from World War II.

As you walk around the room clockwise from the entrance, you see a centre table with carving and inlay which might be from the 1630s in Germany and behind it an English press of oak.

More than two hundred years before the first Lord Preston had this as his chief bedroom, and added a new fireplace, panelling and some very early window sashes.

[10] A picture of the son and grandson of the 1st Viscount Preston, bought for display at Nunnington Hall by local supporters of the National Trust.

Rococo candlesticks by J.Cafe in 1756, knives, also of the mid-eighteenth century and with pistol grips and a 1794 cake basket sit amongst the dinner service.

One side drawer front opens to reveal a wine keeping box lined with lead, and the other contains press-drawers for linen.

A pair of scissor-shaped candle snuffers of silver bears a crest of the Rutson family which owned Nunnington Hall.

A card table of around 1750 and made from mahogany stands between the south facing windows in this room, and a pier glass of the late eighteenth century with a giltwood frame hangs above it.

A withdrawing room provided a measure of privacy and so Viscount Preston annexed his bedroom with this small chamber to the west.

Involved in the intrigue to restore James II's kingship, Richard Graham was imprisoned for his fidelity and was kept at the Tower of London.

[12] Panelling in this room was once painted, but is now bare, having been stripped during the refurbishment by Walter Brierly and the Fife family in the 1920s, an example of an Edwardian trend.

Another split, triangle pediment surmounts the large cartouche bearing the Graham family coat of arms above the fireplace, and this high quality carving has been attributed to John Etty, the master carpenter from York (c. 1634–1708), a comparison drawn with his work at Sprotborough Hall in Doncaster.

Within this latter device, the Graham coat of arms rests above a supporting group of eagles, foliage and scrolls, terminating at either side with cherub's heads in profile.

In his Book of Sundry Draughts (1615), Walter Gedde included a pattern repeated on the floor of this room in stone flags, the squares and hexagons intersecting.

An earlier source for this pattern came from Sebastiano Serlio's Il Quattro Libri Dell'Architettura, which came to England in 1611, a cornerstone of the late English Renaissance.

His premature death meant that there was no direct descendant to receive Nunnington Hall or his title, so the estate passed to his aunts Mary and Catherine, but the viscountcy was extinguished.

When the picture was found in a rack during routine housekeeping, cleaning revealed a faint and faded inscription- Presented to me by JM Turner, 1832.

Further evidence was found in the similarity between this picture and Turner's watercolour of 1811, held in Glasgow's art gallery – Lyme Regis, Dosetshire: A Squall, [sic].

For wine lovers and children the painting Grape Harvest in the South of France attributed to Hendrick van Ballen the Younger (1623–61) provides a glimpse of rural social history.

On show are memorabilia from The Colonel's army career including his campaign medals and notices of Mentions in Despatches together with presentation cups from his days in India where he enjoyed success on the polo field and race course.

One of the small watercolour paintings on display is a "View of Philae" by Edward Lear, better known for his owls and pussycats in seagreen boats.

This room also has another much earlier example of Fanny Wrather's needlework; a sampler hanging adjacent to the late nineteenth-century pastel portrait of her.

The mezzotint female portraits are late eighteenth century after the style of Reynolds and form part of a collection given to the National Trust by Kathleen Cooper-Abbs owner and donor of Mount Grace Priory.

The panelling in this room dates back to the Norcliffe family's occupation of the house (1583–1643) but the corner fireplace was put in during Lord Preston's remodelling in the late seventeenth century.

The defacing of the panelling round the window is believed to have been the "work" of Cromwellian soldiers who were billeted at Nunnington during the Civil War.

The various samplers displayed on the walls are a testament to the skill and diligence of their young creators from a time when a neat hand with a needle and an "improving" text was a sign of a good upbringing.