Kent Historic Houses & Gardens

Penshurst Place & Gardens nr Tunbridge Wells

The history of Penshurst Place Stately home and gardens and its preservation and additions through the centuries is a fascinating one, with a fair bit of luck thrown in. Penshurst is a huge mix of an estate, with a medieval manor house at its heart, and later additions within the grounds including the character Tudor Village. Within the manor house highlights include the Baron's Hall dating from 1341. In here is the famous wooden chestnut roof with intricate carvings. The tomb of the first owner in the 13th century, Sir Stephen de Penchester can be found in on-site Penshurst Church. In the hands of the Sidney family on and off for centuries, Penshurst was owned by Henry VIII for a time after he had then owner the 3rd Duke of Buckingham beheaded in the Tower of London as a traitor.

Twentieth century restoration is credited to William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle who earned the Victoria Cross and Knight of the Garter. Penshurst would not be what it is today without his efforts, and today Penshurst stately home and gardens is one of the Kent Weald's best days out. Catering well for families, within the grounds there's a kids adventure playground, a toy museum, walking trails and a gift shop.

Penshurst Place Gardens are spectacular. Essentially an 11 acre formal walled garden dating back in parts to 1346, the Italian Garden here is not to be missed, changing as it does through the seasons offering new delights. Visit in April for the Bluebells and Tulips, or late July for the Magnolia Grandiflora and Fuschia.

• Tunbridge Wells Hotels
• Accommodation in Tunbridge Wells

Knole House, Vita Sackville West & Virginia Woolf

Knole House just outside Sevenoaks town centre dates originally from the 12th century. Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury owned the property in 1456 and lavishly developed the property. By 1538 Henry VIII himself was showing an interest in Knole, he liked it so much. Finally Thomas Cranmer had to hand it over to Henry. The Sackville family have owned Knole since 1603.

It is with the Sackville family that Knole is most associated with, particularly Vita (Victoria Mary) Sackville West (1892-1962), prolithic poet and novelist as well as creative gardener (Vita and husband Harold bought and renovated the gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent). Vita's novels such as 'The Edwardians (1930)' and 'Knole and the Sackvilles' (1922) were published by the Hogarth Press (prodigy of the Bloomsbury set which included Harold Nicholson and Virginia Woolf). Through the 1920s Vita struck up an affair with Woolf. Their extensive letter-writing is well known and published. Woolf based the heroine of her novel 'Orlando' on Vita, and Knole features too as inspiration for the house in the novel told in biographical style - Woolf's intention using this style was mocking. Her father had been a biographer. Interestingly, within their own time Vita Sackville West's books were best sellers and considerably more popular than Woolf's more complex pieces.

On display in Knole is a facsimile copy of the novel Orlando dedicated to Sackville West. Around the mammoth sprawling mansion sits a 1000 acre deer park (a Site of Special Scientific Interest). Knole Park is Kent's only remaining medieval deer park and over 200,000 trees have ben planted within the park since the 1987 storm which destroyed 70 percent of the trees here. Also on-site is Lord Sackville's private garden which started life as a small medieval lavender garden and orchard. The gardens at Knole are one of Kent's best, and particularly fragrant with age old wisteria and numerous other scented blooms - fans of Woolf's novel 'Orlando' won't fail to make connections with the novel whilst touring both the house and gardens at Knole.

Some notable (some commissioned) artwork is also on display within the house including several Gainsboroughs, some Van Dyck, Kneller and Reynolds, and a rare world famous collection of Stuart furniture, much of which came from the royal palaces of Whitehall and Hampton Court. A prototype of the original 'Knole settee' is a particular fascinating highlight on a tour of the house which is a maze of rooms, including 13 state rooms, which remain much the same as they were 300 years ago.

• Hotels in Kent
• Kent Accommodation

Chartwell House National Trust, Sir Winston Churchill's Home

West of Sevenoaks and 2 miles south of Westerham sits another of Kent's famous stately homes Chartwell House, home to Sir Winston Churchill from 1924 until his death in 1965. It was primarily the spectacular views of the Kent Weald countryside around Chartwell that drew Churchill to the property. A tour of the house reveals much on the private life of this promenant figure in British politics, twice Prime Minister.

Chartwell, run by the National Trust, remains much as it was during Churchill's family life here. Numerous personal artefacts, photographs, documents, pictures and Churchill's many paintings are on display within the rooms and on-site studio. He and his wife also had a hand in shaping the gardens - the rose garden is the work of Lady Churchill, and the lakes on-site were designed by Churchill. Churchill's Kitchen Garden is currently being restored.

• Kent Hotels
• Accommodation in Kent

Cobham Hall & Owletts

The spectacular Cobham Hall manor house south east of Gravesend stands as a kind of social document for English architecture and really deserves to be more widely acclaimed. (the house is currently a school with restricted access - see webguide right for details). The spectacular central Gilt Hall was decorated in 1654 by John Webb, the nephew by marriage and prodigy of the man widely considered as England's first architect, Inigo Jones. Webb worked with Jones on the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall. It was Inigo Jones who first brought Renaissance architecture to Britain after studying architecture in Italy. Other rooms within Cobham were later decorated by another famous name, James Wyatt in the 18th century.

Cobham village has another famous stately home - Owletts run by the National Trust. Owletts is the onetime home of renowned British architect Herbert Baker (1862-1946) who designed numerous buildings in India, South Africa and London. Baker was born here at Owletts and is said to have been considerably influenced by his tours of Kent Anglo Saxon churches and Norman castles as well as Renaissance buildings. The mansion house at Port Lymne (now an animal park) south of Ashford was designed by Baker.

• Gravesend Hotels
• B&Bs in Gravesend

Smallhythe Place, Ellen Terry Cottage & Biography

The National Trust owned Smallhythe Place is a rather special 16th century half timbered country house. Smallhythe was bought by acclaimed Victorian actress Ellen Terry in 1899, although she'd had her eye on it in the early 1890s. She lived in the house until her death in 1928, and the house today is as much a museum homage to the work of this great actress who reached the pinacle of fame in her day. An expert on Shakespeare, Terry made roles such as Portia in the Merchant of Venice her own.

Nicknamed the 'Queen of the Theatre', Ellen Terry (originally Alice Ellen Terry) was one of 11 children born in Coventry of comic actor parents in 1847. Her sister Kate was also a famous actress but retired on marriage. Kate's grandson John Gielgud also went on to become a rather acclaimed actor! More is surfacing on the life of Ellen Terry - she was an extensive letter writer who had an on-going correspondence with notables such as Bernard Shaw. Her Collected Letters appeared during 2009 following work by Katherine Cockin at Hull University. Cockin has already produced one book on Terry's equally famous daugher Edith Craig who was involved in the suffrage movement by 1903. Edith Craig put most of her energies into design and theatre work, working closely with the likes of Cicely Hamilton. Together with her mother, she set up the Pioneer Players theatre group in 1911 performing radical plays covering numerous subjects of the day including suffrage.

After her mother's death, she converted the Barn within the grounds of Smallhythe into a theatre where performances of Shakespeare were regularly performed with the help of the likes of Vera Holme, former suffragette and actress. Events are still regularly performed in the Barn. A visit then to Smallhythe Place offers a fascinating insight into the lives of these two great women. Ellen Terry's theatre collection is on display within the house, and within the grounds you can view the Barn Theatre and particular features added by Terry such as the Rose Garden.

• Kent Holiday Cottages
• Guest Houses in Kent

Ightham Mote 14th Century Manor House

Just to the east of Sevenoaks and Knole sits one of the National Trust's real gems - Ightham Mote. The manor house is an extremely rare surviving modated medieval manor house which dates from the early 14th century. The Trust has recently completed the mammoth restoration project which began in 1988 on this exquisite Grade I listed property. The manor house is a fine study in architectural history, and saw numerous tweeks through the years by various owners including additional features the Great Hall, Crypt and Tudor Chape with its hand-painted ceiling. A favourite with many visitors is the Grade I listed dog kennel situated in the cobbled courtyard. Gardens, water features and of course the mote surround the property.

• Sevenoaks Hotels
• Bed and Breakfast in Sevenoaks

Restoration House Rochester

Restoration House in Rochester was so called because it played host to Charles II pre-the Restoration of the monarchy, Charles II stayed in the house on 28/29 May 1660 whilst moving up from Dover to London having spent 15 years in exile. The Kings Room inside has a convenient exit shaft adjacent. Beautifully conserved and furnished to period, the house is an architectural gem with elaborate original ceiling plasterwork, original floors, wood panelled walls and stunning fireplaces. Samuel Pepys was another celebrity guest, staying in the house on the 30th June 1667. Charles Dickens found it inspirational indeed, using it as the model for Satis House - Miss Havisham's house in Great Expectations. Apparently he was seen leaning against the property's main gates on the day before he died - no doubt musing over using it again in his last unfinished work The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

The house is thought to have been built between 1580 and 1600, and is actually two medieval houses combined in the late 16th/early 17th century to form one large mansion house. Strong Royalist links were set in motion by first owner Henry Clerke, who together with his son, served as Royalist members of parliament. During the English Civil War the house was taken over by Cromwell's forces, specifically Cromwell's commander in the South East Colonel Gibbon.

Some fascinating work done in preparation for the stay of Charles II on route to London has been uncovered fairly recently by the current owners. These include the insertion of French doors and various paint effects, the style of the period brought over from elsewhere in a context of Cromwelian suppression of innovation. These features are particularly interesting viewing during the tour, alongside the extensive walled garden around the house covering three quarters of an acre! Fascinating for its architectural detail and with links to Dickens and Charles II, a further bonus inside the house is a superb collection of artwork on display.

• Rochester Hotels
• Guest Houses in Rochester