Knole House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knole House (also Knowle House) is a stately home situated close to Sevenoaks in north-west Kent, surrounded by a large, 1000 acre deer park, Knole (or Knowle) Park. It is remarkable in England for the degree to which the early 17th-century appearance of its state rooms is preserved: the interiors of many houses of this period were altered later on. The surrounding deer park is also a remarkable survivor, having changed little over the past 400 years except for the loss of many trees in the Great Storm of 1987.
The house was built by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, between 1456 and 1486. On Bourchier's death, the house was bequeathed to the See of Canterbury — Sir Thomas More appeared in revels there at the court of John Morton — but in 1538 it was taken from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer — and enlarged — by King Henry VIII. It is reputed to be a 'calendar house', having 365 rooms, 52 staircases and 7 courtyards.
In 1566, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it was presented to her cousin Thomas Sackville whose descendants the earls of Dorset have lived there ever since. Most notably, these include writer Vita Sackville-West (her Knole and the Sackvilles (1922) is regarded as a classic in the literature of English country houses); her friend Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando based on the history of the house and the Sackville family.
The many state rooms open to the public contain a superb collection of 17th century royal Stuart furniture, hand me downs from the earls' service in high office in the royal court, including three state beds, silver furniture and the prototype of the famous Knole Settee, outstanding tapestries and textiles, portraits by Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller and Joshua Reynolds (the last being a personal friend of the 3rd Earl), and a copy of the Raphael Cartoons. The eye is especially drawn to some of Reynolds' portraits in the house: a self portrait and the depictions of Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith and a Chinese page boy who was taken into the Sackville household have particular character and force. There are also extraordinary survivals from the English Renaissance: an Italianate staircase of great delicacy and the vividly carved overmantel and fireplace in the Great Chamber.
Today, the house and estate are in the care of the National Trust, which market them under the name "Knole". Knole Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the park hosts the annual Knole Run, a prestigious schools cross-country race.
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