Knole is a stately home situated close to Sevenoaks in north-west Kent, surrounded by a 1000-acre deer park. It is remarkable in England for the degree to which the early 17th-century appearance of its staterooms is preserved: the interiors of many houses of this period were altered later on.
This is the birthplace of the famous poet Vita Sackville-West and is set within a Deer Park covering 1000 acres. Externally, this vast house resembles a complete village, with so many gables, chimneys, battlements and pinnacles and, like a well-protected medieval community, has a central Gatehouse. There is also a great inner Gatehouse (Bourchier`s Tower) with a central oriel window and machicolations on either side, which conjure up visions of traditional castle life but which are, in fact, purely for decorative purposes. A curious legend attached to Knole House is that it had seven courtyards, representing the days of the week, fifty-two staircases - one for each week of the year - and 365 rooms, corresponding to the days in a year. No apparent significance has ever been attached to this interesting bit of trivia but it is quite thought provoking.
This palatial complex and beautiful house has been a home for several kings, queens and nobility. This is a living example of unique European architecture. The palace has 13 superb staterooms in their original form as they were during 18th century. The palace attracts visitors with the wealth and standing of the Sackville family. The house boasts a famous and rare collection of Royal Stuart furniture, paintings by Gainsborough, Van Dyck and Reynolds, as well as important 17th-century tapestries.
Knole Deer Park is one of the main highlights of this place. The park is one of the few deer-parks in England to have survived the past 500 years. There was a time when there were around 700 parks in the 16th century, and the only one in Kent.
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