Hi, welcome to our visit to Knole in Kent
It's a beautiful stately home set in some wonderful parkland
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so as I said we're in the southeast corner of the UK in the county of Kent
and we're on the edge of the town of Sevenoaks
Which can be reached from London in just under half an hour by rail
and it's about a mile and a half walk from Sevenoak's station to Knole house
So let's go and explore Knole
and Knole is two things, the first is the National Trust house you see before us
and the other is the grounds and its deer herd
there are roughly 350 Sika and Fallow deer in the grounds
these are wild deer, so please don't feed them
and if you're walking your dog through the grounds then please keep on a lead at all times
no one wants another <> "Fenton" experience do they?
Now I want to point out there is an on-site car park, but that's only for people visiting the house, or National Trust members
However, you are able to walk through here, there are a number of public rights
and I'll drop a link in the description to the OS maps app
which is a great tool for finding those routes
and now back to those wild deer and it's fair to say they've become accustomed to us humans
now it looks like someone didn't read the information and this fella has been fed a carrot
I promise you it wasn't us
and now I guess Janis is just getting a touch on the nervous side
and now let's take a look at Knole House
which was built between 1455 and 1608
and has been in the care of the National Trust since 1951.
We'll make our entrance to the Gatehouse Tower
and those with a finer eye for detail will notice that this is a mixture of Medieval, Tudor and Jacobean
and it wouldn't be the same if there wasn't a tower to be climbed
and between 1926 to 1940 the tower was occupied by Edward Sackville-West, better known as Eddy to his friends
and on to the next level
and as you can see the stone staircase is quite narrow and steep
and people in both directions are using it too
and now we've reached Eddy's music room, complete with period features
there's one final climb and then you reach the rooftop
where you can get some stunning views of Knole Park
and again another one for those with an attention to detail
you may spot the Sackville's heraldic leopards adorning the rooftop
and look inwards over Green Court and you get magnificent views of the house itself
although it started life as an Archbishop's palace
it wasn't long before one Henry VIII took a shine to it
and it became residents to his daughter from Catherine of Aragon, who later become Mary I of England
heading back down the tower, we arrive at Green Court, the first inner courtyard
We now proceed onwards to the inner Stone Court
Now it's time to enter the house and we start with the Great Hall
lined with portraits, some members of the Sackville family, others close relatives
and the wooden screen at the end never fails to impress
from here we head up the Grand Staircase
and I think grand is the right word for it
and have you noticed those Sackville leopards
these were restored in 2016 to bring them back to their original condition
and once we reach the top of the Grand Staircase, it leads us onto the Brown Gallery
here you'll find portraits of royalty, dignitaries and members of the clergy
just off the Brown Gallery is the Billiard Room
and this is adjacent to the Leicester Gallery
Knole is a treasure trove for the art historian
and now the Venetian Bedroom, created in 1688 for James II
and now a view over to the parklands beyond
more of that shortly
and now the Spangle Dressing Room
and guess where that leads to? yep you got it right, the Spangle Bedroom
another of these little sealed bedrooms is the Lady Betty Suite
after exploring this wing of the house we head back down the Brown Gallery until we reach Knole's Ballroom
once again a fabulously lavish room
and in the corner, you can see the work that's carried out to keep these works of art in pristine condition
and on the far wall I thought I recognise that view
it's Dover castle and guess what that was right
To truly enjoy the collection at Knole you really do need to take your time
there's some stunning works here
and then to prove that we step into the Reynolds Room
featuring works of art by the renowned British artist Joshua Reynolds
and then the Cartoon Gallery featuring this amazing work lining the wall
and home to some of the collection's larger sculptures
and I really don't need to put up a label for this, do I?
the King's Closet, which as you probably guessed, is right next to the King's Bedroom
and this is the final room that we visit within the house, so it's now time to step out into the daylight
another place worth visiting is the Orangery in the corner of the Green Court
Opened in 2010 to the public, it had previously been used for garden storage
but now has been returned to its 1823 look
Now, if after all that, you need some refreshments then you can head around the corner till you come to the coffee shop
there's also the Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio
although there's no photography or video allowed in there so you just have to pop along
Well that brings this video to a close
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