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Knole, Kent

In 1458 a grand house was built at Knole near Sevenoaks in Kent for the Archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor, Thomas Bourchier. This house survives, and can be seen on the far side of the present central courtyard. Knole remained as a residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury until Henry VIII made it clear to Archbishop Cranmer that a generous gift of Knole to the crown was required. Henry seemed to feel that no one was entitled to a nice palace except him. Knole then remained a royal residence through the Tudor period, until it came into the hands of Elizabeth I. In 1561 she gave Knole first to her favourite, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester. Then in 1566 the house passed to Elizabeth's treasurer Thomas Sackville, whose family still own Knole today. There's a portrait of Thomas Sackville in the Great Hall, holding a white wand which identifies him as Elizabeth's treasurer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Staircase

The Great Hall was the central room of the old medieval house. Leaving the Great Hall you climb the Great Staircase. This was built by Thomas Sackville and has exuberant Renaissance decoration. Climbing the stairs is like leaving medieval England, climbing up through the time of Shakespeare and Marlowe, and entering a new age which was coming to England during the reign of Elizabeth. At the top of the stairs you will be in the state rooms where the Sackvilles and their guests lived and entertained. In the Gallery is a collection of seventeenth century furniture, mostly from the reign of Charles II. The furniture is from Hampton Court and Whitehall Palace, and seems to have spent its life sitting quietly in corners as history went on around it. The furniture's state of preservation indicates it was little used. The collection includes two thrones from the time of James I. Late in the seventeenth century the Sackville family largely abandoned the grand state rooms upstairs, and lived in apartments on the ground floor. The state rooms remained as they were, under dust covers for long periods. This disuse contributed to their survival.

In the Venetian Ambassador's Room off the Gallery you will find another everyday item that sat in the background of momentous historic events. The bed in this room is from Whitehall Palace - part of which survives as Banqueting House. When James II became king in 1685 he made the mistake of not hiding his enthusiasm for Catholicism in a protestant country. By 1688 some MPs were sufficiently concerned to mount a move against the king. At the invitation of a number of MPs, November 1688 saw the protestant William of Orange invade from Holland. James had already made one attempt to escape to France, but had been brought back to London. On the night of 17th December 1688 James II slept in a virtually deserted Whitehall Palace, in the bed now kept at Knole. In the morning he was taken to Rochester and held in lodgings beside the Medway. From Rochester on Christmas Eve 1688, James finally escaped to France.

Into the twentieth century Knole was the childhood home of writer Vita Sackville West. Vita loved Knole and described the house in Knole and the Sackvilles as "some very old woman who has always been beautiful, who has had many lovers, and has seen many generations come and go." In the 1920s Vita was the lover of Virginia Woolf, the affair commemorated by the novel Orlando, which was inspired by Vita, and Knole. The novel follows Orlando through four generations, his/ her gender changing through the decades, culminating with Orlando taking possession of the grand ancestral home - Knole. In reality Vita was denied ownership of Knole because it passed through the male line. So in 1930 Vita bought Sissinghurst Castle, where with the help of her husband Harold Nicholson she created a world famous garden which can still be visited today.

A facsimile copy of the manuscript of Virginia Woolf's Orlando can be seen in the Gallery.

 

 

 

Knole is set in a deer park where deer still run free, as they did in Tudor times. Dogs are welcome on leads. There is a gift shop and restaurant. There is educational provision, mostly focused on Tudor studies for primary schools.

Opening Times: The park is open daily to pedestrians.

House:

March 13th to October 31st, 12 midday to 4pm Wednesday to Sunday.

Also open on bank holiday Mondays.

Cars are admitted only when the house is open.

Address: Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0RP

Directions: The park entrance to Knole is in Sevenoaks town centre off the A 225. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Knole.

Access: Wheelchair access to the house is difficult. There is a ramp to the entrance, but there are steps on the ground floor, and stairs to the upper floor. A photo album tour is available. Adapted toilet facilities are provided. The grounds are partly accessible in the area near the house. Out in the deer parks there are rough paths and steep slopes.

Contact:

telephone: 01732 450608

01732 462100

fax: 01732 465528

e-mail: knole@nationaltrust.org.uk

web site http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-knole.htm