Knole House
Knole House has been described as the best surviving remains of a stately home from the Tudor and Jacobean era. It is the largest private house in England and superbly well preserved. Surrounded by a 1,000-acre deer park, it also contains a 30-acre private walled garden, the largest in the country.
Knole House was originally built in 1456 as a residence for the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1537 King Henry VIII took the place over and redecorated it. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I it was presented to Thomas Sackville whose descendants have lived there ever since. Most notably, the writer Vita Sackville-West who was born here, but bitterly lost her inheritance to her male cousin.
There are reputed to be 365 rooms here – one for every day of the year. Highlights include the Great Staircase; the Spangle Bedroom, Venetian Bedroom, Ballroom, Reynolds Room and Kings Suite. Knole was the setting for Virgina Woolf’s novel Orlando. It was also used, bizarrely, as a shooting location for the Beatles' Liverpool reminisces Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever. In his seminal and well respected book England’s Thousand Best Houses, Simon Jenkins awards it a rare five star status.