Knole House

Though there have been many "modernisations" and renovations in its history, most of Knole House in Kent is Elizabethan in style. It was given to the Sackville family by Elizabeth I. The house is huge.

Vita Sackville-West, the writer and gardening guru, was raised in the house. She had an affair with Virginia Woolf, who based her book "Orlando" on the family, and the character of Orlando on Vita herself. (The film of the book starred Vincent's Thumbsucker co-star Tilda Swinton in a real tour-de-force. She starts as a boy in Elizabethan England, falls asleep and awakens as a woman, living 400 years. Tilda was believable in both parts of the role).


The house is set in a deer park. Even though it was a VERY wet day on Friday when I went for a visit to the house and park, (a fact belied by these photos I took in a sunny moment) the deer were about in plenty.

On the way down on the motorway there was such a downpour that it was almost impossible to see ahead of you. It was worse than thick fog, and really scary.

As car parking in the deer park is on grass, my car managed to get stuck in the mud. My friend (who always dresses in floaty skirts) had to push the car backwards, and as the tyres gripped, the car shot back, and Susanna almost went splat into the mud. Unfortunately I was too busy driving the car to get any pictures of this event!