George Vernon inherited Sudbury in the 1660s and spent the next 42 years transforming his ancestor’s smaller mansion into the present Hall. Although Vernon was a member of a modest county family he married advantageously into wealthy families, boosting his political and social ambitions while providing the funds necessary to achieve his grandiose architectural vision. Whilst Sudbury dates from the reign of Charles II, it is Jacobean in conception with a long gallery and a great staircase. The interior boasts sophisticated plasterwork by James Pettifer and Samuel Mansfield of Derby, fine carvings by Edward Pierce, an overmantel by Grinling Gibbons and murals by Louis Laguerre. Vernon kept the traditional structure preferred by the Tudors with the staterooms at the east and the service rooms to the west. The National Trust Museum of Childhood George Devey added a servants’ wing to Sudbury Hall in 1874-83. Today, this wing houses the National Trust Museum of Childhood.