As you arrive at the 600-year-old estate in Kent, herds of meandering deer create a majestic overture for visitors to Knole. Cleverly theatrical in its presentation, Knole offers not only the history of its unique sofa design but also sumptuous ‘showrooms’ of Jacobean interiors. Originally a Bishop’s palace and then a popular hunting ground for King Henry VIII, this Dutch gabled country house has been owned for the past 400 years by the influential Sackville-West family.

A cultural playground for Vita Sackville-West

The Sackville-West family gifted Knole to the National Trust in 1946 but still retain apartments with a 200-year lease.

Knole was the childhood home where author and famous Sissinghurst garden designer Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) grew up. You can only imagine how all of this history and culture fed her imagination. One of Vita’s childhood games was to design and create her own tickets for visitors to the Jacobean ‘showrooms’, originally grand family rooms that evolved 400 years ago into showrooms that were opened to the public even then. Because of the British laws of primogeniture, Vita sadly didn’t inherit Knole, it passed instead to her uncle.

Decorative plastered ceilings

Decorative plaster ceilings and pargetting is something that has fascinated me for a long time. Even from school days in Saffron Walden, Essex, I admired the pretty patterned pargetting on some of the medieval homes in the town. And since then, several ceilings that have thankfully been preserved in National Trust houses.

There was also occasional discussion of the work of Scottish architect Robert Adam in our family, who is known as much for his decorative plaster ceilings as for his Georgian architecture. So to see quite so many beautiful examples of plastered ceilings at Knole is a treat. Until now, decorative plasterwork has always seemed a remote prospect in terms of recreating anything like this for more modest settings.

Contemporary plaster designer

I recently came across the work of Gaches Traditional Plasterers in a project commissioned by The Rabbit In the Wall for a house renovation in Sandwich. I was so excited to see this and to find out about a book that Philip A Gaches has just published on traditional and decorative plastering techniques.

Theatre notes

Centuries of theatrical and eye-catching decoration delight visitors at every turn. From jib (camouflaged) doors to cleverly positioned mirrors and rooms with intriguing look-throughs. Long before electric lighting, it must have been key to work out how best to manipulate light for maximum effect.

There is occasional brightly coloured stained glass, exquisite lanterns and glamorous rococo wall lights in the ballroom. Playful tromp l’oeil decoration creates additional faux texture and decoration.

A who’s who of British history in paintings

It must have been so exciting three or four hundred years ago to visit Knole and its illustrious galleries of furniture and art. These Who’s Who of paintings were commissioned by the Sackvilles of the great and the good alongside members of their own family.

Furniture at Knole

Knole is said by the National Trust to have “The finest collection of 17th-century English upholstered furniture in the world. Much of it was made for the royal palaces of the ruling Stuart dynasty and is of the highest quality. The objects on display are the combination of several separate collections.”

The original design for the Knole sofa is behind glass in the Leicester Gallery and wasn’t easy for me to photograph. This is an example of the iconic design that several furniture companies including George Smith still produce.

“Built c.1635–40, the original Knole sofa, which launched a thousand imitations across the world, is covered in its original red velvet. This, too, would have been used almost like a chair of state, and it’s possible that a post-restoration queen would have received guests on the sofa, sitting beneath a canopy in a state dressing room.”

These are some pieces of furniture and upholstery that caught my eye.

National Trust conservation studios at Knole

The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio is the first of its kind in the National Trust, allowing visitors the unique opportunity to watch conservators at work, working on objects from collections across the Trust.

Christmas at Knole 2025

If you are able to book and make a visit, the ‘showrooms’ and tower at Knole will be decorated for Christmas from 22 November to 23 December 2025 and on certain days, carols will be sung in the couryards by local choirs.

Cartier exhibition V&A museum

I was excited to see this carved rock crystal and jade pendant with decorative diamond edge in the Cartier exhibition at the V&A museum in London (on until 16th November 2025). It was originally given to Vita Sackville-West by her mother Victoria, the Baroness Sackville in 2012.

Shop the blog

Finally, I have chosen these Christmas gift ideas as they offer more than a little in the spirit of Knole. They are available from two brilliant independent designers, Cherry Harrison who makes and sells exquisite decorative interiors accessories from antique textiles and then from wallpaper designer Polly Fern who has created a Dutch gabled Festive Advent calendar this year. Its interiors are a decorator’s dream and comes complete with pop-up tables and a Brindle whippet.

Please note to order direct from each designer, these items aren’t available in the National Trust shop.

Thank you

Thank you so much for reading this! There is so much more to discover at Knole including, the attics, the tower and some of the most sumptuous state bedrooms and four-posters I have ever seen – now environmentally preserved behind glass.

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