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In an elegant neighborhood overlooking the James River, Agecroft Hall is a late-15th-century Tudor manor house built in Lancashire, England, brought here piece by piece in the 1920s. Today it serves as a museum portraying the social history and material culture of an English-gentry family of the late-Tudor and early-Stuart eras. Typical of its period, the house has ornate plaster ceilings, massive fireplaces, rich oak paneling, leaded and stained-glass windows, and a two-story great hall with a mullioned window 25 feet long. Furnishings authentically represent the period. Adjoining the mansion are a formal sunken garden, resembling one at Hampton Court Palace, and a formal flower garden, an Elizabethan knot garden, and an herb garden. Visitors see a brief video about the estate before taking the tour. Plan some time to explore the gardens as well. Appropriately, the Richmond Shakespeare Festival (tel. 804/323-4000; www.richmondshakespeare.com) plays here each June and July.
