When UK National Trust Houses open up again after the virus this will be definitely well worth a visit. Julie and I visited Igtham Mote in 2015 when I took the photographs.

Ightham (pronounced “item”) Mote is a house in Kent, UK, over 650 years old. It is hidden away in a wooded valley in a forested region of Kent. The house itself is surrounded by a moat. Address: Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 0NT Situated 11 miles south east of Tunbridge Wells.

For 600 years this was a family home. Now it belongs to the National Trust having been given to the National Trust by its last owner, a wealthy American, Charles Henry Robinson, in 1965.

The inner courtyard with the Great Danes kennel.

It is a remarkable and charming manor house. The oldest timbers within it date from around 1330. The first stage of the building was the east side of the quadrangle and it took about another hundred years before the four sides were completed to enclose a courtyard.

Part of a lounge.

Medieval dining.

There are pleasant gardens, large lawns, a lake and a picnic area, plus a moderately priced restaurant which all help to make the Ightham Mote an enjoyable place to visit.

Unless there are covid-19 restrictions in place it is open to the public every day of the year except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For full details visit www.Nationaltrust.org.uk/ighthammote