Gilly’s enthusiasm for this remarkable house came across from the beginning when she described how she grew up with her brother close to the somewhat unassuming entrance to Knole near the Church of St Nicholas in the High Street of Sevenoaks, within easy reach of Hartfield.
Approaching the house up a drive of about a mile, the Kentish Ragstone walled building reeks of enormous wealth from the first view. It is of course absolutely enormous, possibly the largest ‘house’ in the country, known often as a “calendar house” having (probably) 365 rooms – nobody has counted – 52 staircases, 12 outside entrances, 7 courtyards and with a total roof area of 4 acres – one of the reasons for the current repairs.
Surrounded by a deer park, which is the only remaining one in Kent, Gilly explained how the deer were chased into a valley that was fitted with a net and slaughtered. This of course was a long time ago as illustrated by the pictures but the deer park is still very well populated by these picturesque animals and, because of the untouched age of the park there is an area with anthills that are amazingly 800 – 1000 years old in which yellow meadow ants live. The rare blue butterfly that only lives in the southeast is also seen here.
Gilly described how the house developed from a manor house owned by the Fiennes family into an Archbishop’s Palace in the 1400’s when it was bought for £266, 13 shillings and 4 pence as a stop-off between London and Canterbury. The fame of the Deer Park eventually attracted King Henry VIII who fancied the house and it’s standing on one of the highest points in Kent. The Church was forced ‘voluntarily’ to hand over the house to the Crown and it then passed down to Mary, Edward and Elizabeth 1. The latter decided that she didn’t need all these houses that her father had obtained so gave it to her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and there is still a Leicester gallery in the house. He, however, only kept it for around 5 years.
The Sackville’s main residence was at Buckhurst just along the lane from Hartfield and close to the Withyham church that both then and to this day houses the Sackville Chapel and the family vault into which all the family have been laid to rest over the generations. Thomas Sackville, in the middle of the 1500’s had been appointed Lord Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth who gave him the title of the First Earl of Dorset – why ‘Dorset’ when the house stands in ‘Kent’ – for no better reason than it was an available title at the time! After various dealings – unspecified – Thomas Sackville decided to buy Knole most likely because it was closer to London being a days horse ride away, much more suitable for a wealthy courtier.
With access to all the best craftsmen he spent a fortune on Knole putting in fabulous ceilings, fireplaces, a huge screen in the great hall and developed an improved crest moving from ram’s heads to leopards just a step from the lions of the sovereign – and had them placed all over the house, inside and out! He also had a new staircase built in wood – the height of modern fashion – to replace the traditional stone spiral staircase. At the beginning it didn’t have all the fabulous furniture as this was collected by the family as time went on but Thomas Sackville did have the oak frieze in the Great Chamber installed and a magnificent fireplace with a blank space over the top into which the banner of the visiting dignitaries could be placed. Unfortunately Thomas lived only 5 years to enjoy all his alterations.
After the Civil War in which the house suffered substantially it was Richard, Lord Buckhurst, later the 5th Earl of Dorset who began repairs in the middle 1600’s. He married Frances Cranfield the daughter of the 1st Earl of Middlesex, Lord Treasurer to James 1st and Gilly showed us a painting of Frances in her glorious dress by no less an artist than van Dyck in 1637. She had lived at Copt Hall with a fabulous collection of furniture and paintings, which steadily found their way to Knole. Indeed the chairs at Knole are reputed to be the source of the word ‘Chairman’ as only the most important man was expected to sit to hold court whilst others stood. Fabulous silver furniture now at Knole is the only other remaining of its type, the only other set belonging to our Queen. The settee, now known as the Knole Settee, was originally designed for a Queen to sit with her dress spread out to welcome guests in an informal manner.
Richard and Frances had 13 children, those that did not survive being interred in the Sackville chapel at Withyham. One child, apparently their favourite, died possibly of appendicitis whilst away from home and his devastated parents are seen kneeling beside the tomb with the child’s hand on a skull indicating that he had predeceased his parents. This beautifully executed sculpture was not finished until after Richard had died.
One child, Charles, who did survive and became the 6th Earl, gained a somewhat sordid reputation early on but because of his close relationship with the King managed to escape punishment although the date of 16th June 1663 on which he was pardoned for almost unpardonable happenings at a brothel was exactly the same date that the Withyham church was hit by lightning and caught fire. A higher power, perhaps!
John Frederick Sackville, the 3rd Duke, was the last British Ambassador to France before the French Revolution and was a close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette – possibly the inspiration for the Scarlet Pimpernel! His love of cricket and how it is said that there was never such a revolution in Britain because the Lords of the Manor played cricket with their staff so making it difficult to chop the heads off a member of the team!
The Duke’s mistress, the Italian ballet dancer Giovanna Baccelli, lived at Knole but eventually the Duke married Arabella Cope to produce a legitimate heir. The superb statue of Giovanna lying face down on her bed was, understandably, despatched to the attic by his new wife from where it has only recently been recovered and replaced at the bottom of the staircase. Sadly their only son, George, the 4th Duke died falling off a horse whilst hunting in Ireland, so bringing to an end the Dukedom. The family had to reinvent itself. Elizabeth, one of the daughters married George West the 5th Earl De La Warr living at Buckhurst but to save the family they joined the two names together, hence Sackville-West. Their third son inherited Knole and his descendants still live there today.
We learnt about the King’s Bed and how it was renovated in 1974 with a team of 200 lady volunteers from Sevenoaks, 10 to 15 working daily, and taking 13 years to complete the conservation and repairs!
The illegitimate daughter of Lionel and his mistress Pepita, Victoria, managed to become legitimate by marrying her first cousin. This marriage had one daughter, Vita Sackville-West who could never inherit Knole, which she adored, due to the fact that she was a woman, the rules of progenitor meaning that the inheritance goes down the male line, so the house went to her cousin Eddy Sackville-West who really wasn’t interested and spent his final years in Ireland. In due course Vita married Harold Nicolson and they went on to buy Sissinghurst which completes a circle because the first Earl of Dorset married Cecily Baker from Sissinghurst!
Finally we learnt that the National Trust took over Knole in 1946 and it was agreed that the family could retain and live in part of the building for 200 years and that with lottery funding and National Trust contributions a programme of refurbishment and renewal costing £20 million was in process. Witch marks, graffiti and hidden broken pottery were amongst items found so far.
(On a subsequent visit in the sunshine of the following weekend, Sally and I enjoyed a conducted tour around the park and a short visit within the house and would urge any of you who have never been to Knole to put it high on your visiting list! Next year there will be even more to see but don’t wait.)
