Stephen Fry reveals previously untold LGBTQ history

Our University is working with the  National Trust is celebrating LGBTQ heritage, to reveal new information about Felbrigg Hall’s last squire, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer.

Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer standing in front of Felbrigg Hall (credit - National Trust)

Stephen Fry has narrated ‘The Unfinished Portrait’, a short film about the squire’s fascinating life at the stunning hall in North Norfolk which is Fry’s favourite of all of the National Trust’s 500 sites.

The last squire was a shy, gentle man, known as ‘Bunny’ to his friends, who restored his exquisite ancestral home and bequeathed it to the nation. Although many have privately acknowledged his homosexuality, this has not been previously discussed with visitors to the Hall. Working with the staff at Felbrigg, the University team  from the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries has uncovered new information about the squire – his poetry, scholarship and circle of friends, that has been used to create the beautiful short film, narrated by Stephen Fry.

Felbrigg Hall (credit - National Trust Images, Andrew Butler)‘The Unfinished Portrait’ will be launched on 25 July as part of Prejudice & Pride, a programme that explores the LGBTQ heritage at over 25 places in the National Trust’s care.

This year, to mark 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, the National Trust is exploring and revealing many previously hidden LGBTQ stories across its places and has commissioned the University of Leicester’s Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG) to help them achieve this.

Watch The Unfinished Portrait: narrated by Stephen Fry below: