Knole House Vita Sackville West Virginia Woolf Chartwell Churchill Kent UK

Knole House & Park Sevenoaks

"I like her and being with her and the splendour--she shines in the grocer's shop in Sevenoaks with a candle lit radiance, stalking on legs like beech trees, pink glowing, grape clustered, pearl hung. That is the secret of her glamour, I suppose". (Virginia Woolf on Vita Sackville West, Writer's Diary, 1925). 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.

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.

Knole House (National Trust), Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0RP. Tel. 01732 450608. A shop, tearoom and children's trail are all on-site. Special events and talks are held throughout the year including the popular Vita Scakville-West Exclusive evening tour of Knole. For more details see Knole's weblink right.

Knole, Vita Sackville West & Virginia Woolf

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.

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.

Guided walks and tours are available for both Chartwell House and the gardens, with a number of talks and special events taking place annually. Check the National Trust's weguide for details. A licensed restaurant is within the car park (pay and display).

Chartwell House National Trust, Sir Winston Churchill Home, Mapleton Road, Westerham, Kent TN16 1PS. Tel. 01732 866368.