Knole provided Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights with its interiors â the vast, calendar-structured house in the Kent weald whose 365 rooms, 52 staircases and 7 courtyards gave the film its sense of a building too large and too old to ever fully know. One of England's greatest houses, given to Thomas Sackville by Elizabeth I and barely altered since, it remains exactly the kind of place that swallows people whole.
Your driver takes you from London directly to Knole's gatehouse entrance in under an hour, handling all navigation through the Kent countryside so you arrive unhurried.
The house itself â a late medieval and Jacobean palace of ragstone set within a 1,000-acre deer park â provided the labyrinthine interior world of Fennell's film; its sheer scale and atmospheric accumulation of centuries made it the only credible choice for a house that functions almost as a character in its own right
The state rooms preserve one of the most important collections of original 17th-century furniture in existence â the King's Bedroom, the Venetian Ambassador's Room and the Brown Gallery are among the finest interiors in National Trust ownership
The Cartoon Gallery contains a set of copies of Raphael's Vatican cartoons commissioned by Charles I â painted on the wall-length canvases that give the long gallery its extraordinary atmosphere
The deer park surrounding the house is freely accessible year-round â 350 acres of ancient parkland with a herd of wild fallow and sika deer, unchanged in character since the medieval period
Things to do
Walk the deer park perimeter for the exterior views of the house that appear in the film â the approach from the park gives the full sense of Knole's mass and age that no interior shot can convey
Knole is about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of central London, on the edge of the market town of Sevenoaks in Kent. The drive takes under an hour, making it one of the more accessible country house day trips from the capital. Your driver takes you directly to the gatehouse entrance, so there is no parking stress on arrival.
Yes. Knole's 1,000-acre deer park is freely accessible year-round, including when the house itself is closed. The park is home to a herd of wild fallow and sika deer and has remained largely unchanged in character since the medieval period. Walking the park perimeter also gives you the best exterior views of the house, including the approach angles used in the film.
Yes. Knole's interiors served as the primary filming location for the house in Emerald Fennell's 2025 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Its vast scale, atmospheric state rooms, and centuries of layered history made it the natural choice for a house that functions almost as a character in the film.
The most celebrated interiors include the King's Bedroom, the Venetian Ambassador's Room, the Brown Gallery, and the Cartoon Gallery, which contains wall-length canvas copies of Raphael's Vatican cartoons commissioned by Charles I. The furniture throughout the house is exceptional in both quality and preservation, largely unchanged since the 17th century.
The market town of Sevenoaks is a five-minute drive from Knole and offers a range of cafes and restaurants if you want a full meal beyond what is available at the house's cafe. The wider Kent countryside around the house is classic English lowland scenery, and the drive back to London through the North Downs is pleasant in its own right.
Knole is a late medieval and Jacobean palace built of Kentish ragstone, set within a 1,000-acre deer park. It was given to Thomas Sackville by Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 and has remained largely unchanged since. Its legendary layout, described as having 365 rooms, 52 staircases, and 7 courtyards, gives it an extraordinary sense of accumulated time and history. The state rooms hold one of the most important collections of original 17th-century furniture in existence.
Knole was the childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, the author and gardener who was a close friend and romantic partner of Virginia Woolf. Woolf's novel "Orlando" (1928) was directly inspired by Knole and the Sackville family's history. Visitors familiar with either Woolf or Sackville-West will find the house resonates deeply with that literary world.
Knole is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. National Trust members enter free; non-members pay an admission fee. Booking a timed entry slot in advance is strongly recommended during peak periods, particularly weekends and school holidays, to avoid queuing or being turned away.
Day trips offer travelers private round-trip transportation to popular sightseeing locations. One of our professional drivers will pick you up in a luxurious, climate-controlled car, take you to the site of interest, and wait for you while you explore before driving you back to your hotel.
Yes! Youâre free to choose the pickup and drop-off times that work best for you. However, the time spent at the destination is fixed and cannot be changed.
Each sightseeing stop has a recommended duration that includes plenty of time to explore. However, it is possible to customize the time spent at each sightseeing stop at a later stage in the booking process to best fit your unique schedule.
Your Daytrip driver will wait for you nearby for the duration of your exploration, meaning youâll never have to wait for your return trip transportation to arrive. Your comfort and convenience are our top priorities, and we aim to close out your day trip with a return on your schedule.
The price of a day trip does not include any entrance tickets, guided tours, or meals you may partake in at your destination. The price covers round-trip transportation in a luxury vehicle with a professional driver who can provide local insights en route.
Day trip bookings can be canceled up to 24 hours before your trip for a full refund, no strings attached. While the destination and stops are predetermined, it is possible to change your pick-up point, whether it is at your hotel or some other location within the city.