Ropes come down as National Trust lets children roam free at Sudbury Hall

Visitors to Children's Country House can dress up in the saloon, curl up in the library and play in the kitchen

Normally when we walk around a place like this, it's don't touch this, don't touch that, keep your hands to yourself'," said Dominique Lyle as her two sons, six-year-old Joel and two-year-old Jack, raced around the portrait gallery of Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire.

They were among the first families to explore the Children's Country House, a first-of-its-kind heritage experience by the National Trust where young visitors are invited to touch objects and explore every corner of the space.