A PRIVATE collection of miniature dolls houses thought to be one of the finest in the world has been gifted to a Ripon stately home.

Newby Hall has put the dolls houses on public display for the first time after receiving the models from two private collectors and miniaturists.

World-renowned miniaturist Caroline Hamilton and her life-long friend and collaborator Jane Fiddick have amassed a collection of more than 65 houses.

The collection was presented to Newby Hall after it became so large that Ms Hamilton and Ms Fiddick could no longer house it themselves.

The historically accurate, exquisite miniature houses will be on permanent display at Newby Hall in former potting sheds which have been specially converted using a Heritage Lottery Grant.

Ms Fiddick said: “It is heart-warming to think that the pleasure our houses have given will be continued in a permanent home at Newby Hall.

“With its gracious Adam rooms, the hall is a miniaturist’s dream and indeed some panels of the famous Newby Tapestries have been as closely reproduced as I could manage in my 1/12th scale Adam House, so it is a particularly fitting setting for the collection.”

The houses and the characters living in them all come with full back stories and histories, and the exhibition will eventually be accompanied by a detailed commentary narrated by Ms Hamilton and Ms Fiddick.

Ms Hamilton added: “While we strive for historical accuracy, we don’t think of ourselves as purely historical model makers. These are the dolls’ own houses and each has its own imagined story – Mrs Aspi Distra likes flying ducks on the wall and Floozy the showgirl is proud of her mirrored ceiling.”

Ms Hamilton founded and ran the renowned London Dollshouse Festival for 20 years, and she and Ms Finnick became well known in the dolls house world and their dolls house creations have been exhibited as far away as Japan over the last 30 years.