Holiday in Cowden, Kent - Friday 8th May to Friday 15th May 2015

Self Catering Holiday Cottage.

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Day 2  -  Saturday 9th May

Today we visited three National Trust properties.

Ightham Mote is a moated manor house, the earliest parts built about 1320 and with later additions and adaptations. For example, there is a victorian billiard room (standard size) in a medieval building and the great hall has had many changes of use and decor over the years, including the insertion of a chimney to replace the central hearth. At least one bathroom was added during the last remodelling in the late victorian period.

Ightham Mote                Ightham Mote                  Ightham Mote                  Ightham Mote                    Ightham Mote

House exterior    Elaine in front of Lakes    Cottages from 1475            House main entrance        Listed Dog Kennel in courtyard

Ightham Mote                    Ightham Mote                                   Ightham Mote                    Ightham Mote       Ightham Mote

Bird box (not listed)    Timber framed Building section        Wooden Fire Surround                Early clock          Panelling on right

 Knole in Sevenoaks  was the ancestral home of the Sackville family from Elizabethan times. The oldest part of the house was built between 1456 and 1486 by a Bishop of Canterbury and the property was taken by the Crown during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The house has been added to and remodelled several times during the centuries. The entrance to the part of the house open to National Trust visitors has a typical Jacobean entrance into a Great Hall. There are three long galleries, the Brown Gallery being the most famous.  There are 2 courtyards with 3 ranges of buildings. National Trust visitors go through the first two tanges into the second courtyard and enter by a door in the third range of buildings.  Photography was not permitted inside the house.

Knole House                              Knole House                        Knole House              Knole House           Knole House

Elaine in front of Knole House    View of back of front range        Elaine in Orangery    Front of 2nd range    Front of 3rd range

 Quebec House in Westerham was the birthplace and family home of Major General James Wolfe who commanded troops at the battle of Quebec where a great victory was had over the French forces led by Marquis de Montcalm in 1759. Photography was not permitted inside the house and was difficult outside because of the restricted sight lines. The house is a very pleasant 18th century house with many items of interest relating to General Wolfe.