A visit to this country home on the outskirts of Wolverhampton offers a glimpse into the world of one of the city’s most prominent families. Paint manufacturer and local MP Geoffrey Mander inherited the timber-framed house from his father, Theodore, in 1900. In 1937 he persuaded the National Trust to take on the house, with him and his wife, Rosalie, taking the role of live-in curators. Together they opened the house to the public and added to its contents. 

Nowadays, Wightwick houses fine examples of work from William Morris and his arts & crafts contemporaries, as well as a remarkable collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Rossetti and Burne-Jones.