Stately homes across the region are waking up for the new season – and there will even be some sneak previews and special events. Read on to find out more...

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   FAMILY DAY OUT: Children enjoy Penshurst Place Gardens. Photo: Joe Dale / Penshurst Place Gardens

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   Clandon Park by T Frost/NTPL

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   GRAND: The Great Staircase at Ham House. Photo: NTPL/Bill Batten

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   WAKEY WAKEY: Waking Up Clandon. Photo: National Trust

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   WAKEY WAKEY: Waking Up Clandon. Photo: National Trust

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   ROMANTIC RUINS: Nymans. Photo: The National Trust / John Miller

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   SUSSEX: Standen House.

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   EDWARDIAN: Polesden Lacey. Photo: Alec Kingham

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Polesden Lacey, Great Bookham

This season you will be able to have a shot in the Billiard Room and picture yourself in an after dinner scene at one of the famous dinner parties hosted by Mrs Grenville, the late Edwardian owner of this house.

See also the completed Portico Bedroom, the first bedroom at Polesden Lacey to open to the public.

If you want to find out more about what goes into looking after Polesden during the winter then join the Dust, Polish and Little Horrors event on Saturday (February 27) and Sunday (February 28) from 10.30am to noon, tickets £8, book by calling 01372 452048.

The grounds have been open all winter and spring is a great time to see them waking up. More than 10 times the normal amount of bulbs have been planted so catch them in all their glory when they burst into life.

If you take the Spring Week Springtime Stroll you will be able to learn about the flora and fauna on a walk around the outer estate, which doesn't require and entry fee (if you want to enter the formal gardens admission prices apply). This is on Sunday, March 8, from 11am to 1pm. Booking essential on 01372 452048.

House opens fully: Wednesday (March 3)

Times: House – Wednesdays to Sundays, 11am to 5pm; gardens – every day, 10am to 5pm

Prices: House and grounds – adults £11.60, children £5.80; grounds only – adults £7.40, children £3.70

Phone: 01372 458203, 01372 452048

Clandon Park, West Clandon, Guildford

Clandon Park was built around 1730 and is one of the country's most complete examples of a Palladian mansion.

It is set in intimate gardens which are also the back drop to a Maori meeting house brought back from New Zealand in 1892.

Discover what happens in the winter months at the Waking Up Clandon event.

See parts of the house not normally open to the public and learn some of the conservation secrets used to protect the house from the effects of time.

Watch as the collection is unveiled for the new season. See demonstrations and some of its collection close up as it is cleaned.

Sign up for a tour on your arrival to discover what lies behind some of the doors normally closed to the public – climb the oak staircase, see the curious carvings, view part of the attic and discover behind the scenes.

Waking Up Clandon takes place on Sunday (February 28) and Sunday, March 7 between noon and 4pm. Normal admission charges apply, booking not necessary.

House opens fully: Sunday, March 14

Times: House and gardens – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays, 11am to 5pm

Prices: Adults £8.60, children £4.20

Phone: 01483 222482

Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, Guildford

Nearby to Clandon Park, Hatchlands Park was built in the 1750s for Admiral Boscawen, a hero of the Battle of Louisburg, and the ceiling features nautical motifs.

Now a family home, it boasts a collection of paintings, keyboard instruments associated with famous composers and informal grounds and there is 400 acres of parkland to explore.

House opens: Thursday, April 1

Times: House and gardens – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 2pm to 5.30pm

Prices: House and park – adults £7, children £3.60; park only – adults £4, children £2; joint ticket with Clandon Park – adults £12.20, children £6.10

Phone: 01483 222482

Ham House and Garden, Ham, Richmond

Discover this 400 year old treasure trove sitting alongside the River Thames.

While the gardens have been open all year, the house is being woken up.

Explore it before its official opening on a sneak preview tour. Lasting 30 minutes, the tour provides an introduction to the house.

You'll be able to see highlights in selected rooms and some items specially unwrapped early.

Tours take places on Saturday (February 27), Sunday (February 28), Saturday, March 6 and Sunday March 7, with the first starting at noon and the last starting at 3.30pm. During this time the gardens are free to explore and house tours are £6.90.

House opens fully: Saturday, March 13

Times: House – daily except Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 4pm; gardens – daily except Thursdays and Fridays, 11am to 5pm

Prices: House and gardens – adults £10.40, children £5.80; gardens – adults £3.50, children £2.35

Phone: 020 8940 1950

Standen, East Grinstead

This late Victorian family home can be found hidden at the end of a quiet Sussex lane where it enjoys views of the High Weald and Weirwood Reservoir.

It is an example of the Arts & Crafts movement of the time where all the big craftsman of the time are evident.

There are hillside gardens, woods and walks.

Before the house re-opens fully, join the team as they reinstate some of the key items of the collection after winter and get hands-on with some of the conservation techniques. Standen Unwrapped is on Saturday (February 27), Sunday (February 28), Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7, from 11am to 4pm. Normal admission charges apply, no need to book.

House opens fully: Sunday, March 13

Times: Wednesdays to Sundays and bank holidays, 11am to 4.30pm

Prices: Adults £8.60, children £4.30

Phone: 01342 323029

Petworth House and Park

Set in Capability Brown landscaped Gardens, Petworth House is home to the National Trust's finest collection of pictures.

From Saturday (February 27) to Wednesday (March 10) you can have a free tour of the kitchens (11.30am and 2pm) while from Saturday (February 27) until Sunday, March 21 there will be a free exhibition looking at the lives of the servants (10.30am to 3.30pm).

The park is open all year round.

House opens fully: Saturday, March 13

Times: House – daily except Thursdays and Fridays, 11am to 5pm, pleasure grounds daily except Thursdays and Fridays, 10.30am to 3.30pm which extends to 6pm from Saturday, March 13

Prices: House and grounds – adults £10.90, children £5.50; pleasure grounds only – adults £4.20, children £2.10

Phone: 01798 343929

Nymans, Handcross, Haywards Heath

Set amid beautiful all-year open gardens, which are fringed by woodland, are the romantic ruins of a burned down Gothic mansion, once home to the Messel family. Some of the house remains in tact and is opening again to the public for the new season.

On your way through the gardens, stop to see inside the remaining rooms of this house and the artifacts and furniture they contain.

There are plenty of events coming up at Nymans this season too.

House opens: Wednesday, March 10

Times: House and gardens – Wednesdays to Sundays, 11am to 4pm, gardens close 5pm

Prices: Adults £9, children £4.50

Phone: 01444 405250

Penshurst Place & Gardens

Unlike the properties above, Penshurst Place is not owned by the National Trust.

Penshurst Place was once owned by Henry VIII before being given to the influential Sidney family whose family home it still is today under the guardianship of Philip Sidney, Viscount De L'Isle.

Its highlights include the Baron's Hall, staterooms and even a Toy Museum.

Outside you can enjoy the grounds and formal gardens and also enjoy the newly refurbished Garden Tea Room.

When Penshurst Place & Gardens open for its 2010 season its events this year will focus on the Second World War as the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk is marked.

Lord De L'Isle's grandfather, FM Viscount Gort, was Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France from 1939 to 1940 and it was his decision to begin the withdrawal to Dunkirk.

House and gardens open: Saturday, March 6

Times: Weekends until Sunday March 28, then daily from Monday, March 29, grounds and garden 10.30am to 6pm; house noon to 4pm

Prices: House, gardens and grounds – adults £9.50, children £6; grounds and gardens only – adults £7.50, children £5.50

Phone: 01892 870307

Web: www.penshurstplace.com

For more information about National Trust properties log on to www.nationaltrust.org.uk