BENINGBROUGH Hall is launching a yearlong programme of activities to celebrate its 300th birthday.

The National Trust property, near York, opens its doors for 2016 on Saturday when visitors can see new installations that tell stories of significant people from its past.

Often described as an Italian palace in Yorkshire, John Bourchier built the hall in 1716, following inspiration from his grand tour of Europe.

The changing fortunes of the country house and garden will be told throughout the year until October 30.

After being owned by many different families, Beningbrough was taken over by the National Trust in 1958 and has been in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery since 1979.

The hall will have a selection of stories and images from the archives about the people who helped to make Beningbrough what it is today.

One such tale centres on Lady Victoria Dawnay, who lived in there from 1892 until the early 1900s.

She was the granddaughter of the Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, after whom Earl Grey tea is named.

Visitors can find out more about Lady Victoria and her grandfather in a tea-inspired installation featuring 300 tea-cups.

David Morgan, general manager for the National Trust in York, said: “It’s an exciting year for Beningbrough and there is a great deal going on; it’s not every year you turn 300.

"We know visitors enjoy finding out about the owners and families who lived here.

"It is a story about how the house survived and re-invented itself, from a family home with the children tobogganing down the grand staircase to a country house gallery hosting major loans from the National Portrait Gallery.”

To celebrate Beningbrough’s 300 years, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, has chosen four portraits of people who have shaped British history and culture.

The four portraits have been chosen to represent each of the centuries of the hall, past, present and future.

They are the social reformer and one of the three National Trust founders, Octavia Hill, the inventor and writer Adam Walker and his family, playwright and Yorkshireman Alan Bennett and Leeds-based Olympians Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee.

Dr Cullinan said “Having been brought up in Yorkshire, the National Portrait Gallery’s partnership with Beningbrough is something I am very proud of.

"It gives me great pleasure to share highlights from the collection as part of Beningbrough Hall’s 300th birthday celebrations.”