One of the great things of living near Kent is that we can easily drive out to explore the Kentish countryside. We literally live along one of motorways and driving 5 minutes down we are in Kent. In fact sometimes we do our grocery shopping in that direction on weekends.
Last weekend we had another bank holiday weekend (May is the best month because there are two bank holidays - hooray). It was a very impromptu trip but on Saturday after lunch I asked K if he wanted to go anywhere. I've got a list of places which I've shortlisted and so he being so easy, said he is fine to drive anywhere but keep the driving time to below one hour each way. I googled again and decided on Penshurst Place and Gardens near Royal Tunbridge Wells.
It was a 35min drive from where we live and so we set off after lunch at 3pm. We arrived close to 4pm and we managed to buy tickets for both the house and gardens. The house is not very big so we managed to tour it within 30min. I love the gardens though. All the spring blooms are so beautiful and those purple Wisterias which made my heart jump.
The house has been owned by the Sidney family since 1552 and today, there is a private wing which is the residence of Philip Sidney 2nd Viscount De L'Isle MBE, Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Kent and his wife Isobel. A few period films have been filmed here and the Baron's Hall was considered for use in the Harry Potter films although it was deemed too small. One interesting fact we learnt by talking to one of the lady who worked in the house: the original Leicester House was built in London by the Sidney family. It was later demolished but the name stayed on, giving the now famous Leicester Square in central London today. Yup, where Chinatown is today. Where we go for our roast duck fix.
We took many photos that day, mainly in the gardens. See the gardens close at 6pm and as we arrived rather late in the day, we pretty much had the whole gardens to ourselves. We both enjoyed this afternoon very much as you can probably tell from from the number of photos below.
We left the place after 1.5 hours later and I suggested driving around the village of Penshurst. We were told that the village was built around the house and it's tiny. I saw a tea room and gasped because it looked so inviting with all the purple Wisterias hanging down from their front door. Lovely!
And then when we were leaving the village we saw this yellow field right beside us. I went "ahhh!" and asked K to stop the car before scrambling out to take this shot below :)
So fun to find such gems not too far from where we live. Makes us want to explore Kent more.
http://www.penshurstplace.com
Last weekend we had another bank holiday weekend (May is the best month because there are two bank holidays - hooray). It was a very impromptu trip but on Saturday after lunch I asked K if he wanted to go anywhere. I've got a list of places which I've shortlisted and so he being so easy, said he is fine to drive anywhere but keep the driving time to below one hour each way. I googled again and decided on Penshurst Place and Gardens near Royal Tunbridge Wells.
 |
| In the gardens |
It was a 35min drive from where we live and so we set off after lunch at 3pm. We arrived close to 4pm and we managed to buy tickets for both the house and gardens. The house is not very big so we managed to tour it within 30min. I love the gardens though. All the spring blooms are so beautiful and those purple Wisterias which made my heart jump.
The house has been owned by the Sidney family since 1552 and today, there is a private wing which is the residence of Philip Sidney 2nd Viscount De L'Isle MBE, Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Kent and his wife Isobel. A few period films have been filmed here and the Baron's Hall was considered for use in the Harry Potter films although it was deemed too small. One interesting fact we learnt by talking to one of the lady who worked in the house: the original Leicester House was built in London by the Sidney family. It was later demolished but the name stayed on, giving the now famous Leicester Square in central London today. Yup, where Chinatown is today. Where we go for our roast duck fix.
We took many photos that day, mainly in the gardens. See the gardens close at 6pm and as we arrived rather late in the day, we pretty much had the whole gardens to ourselves. We both enjoyed this afternoon very much as you can probably tell from from the number of photos below.
 |
| They smelt and looked beautifully |
 |
| We found ourselves in the garden right after touring the house |
 |
| A cute door in the midst of the roses |
 |
| A wall of huge yellow roses |
 |
| Huge yellow roses |
 |
| Purple wisterias |
 |
| All very well manicured and sculptured |
 |
| My turn! |
 |
| More wisterias but cream coloured |
 |
| K was waiting for me to catch up as I was taking photos and lagging behind him. Makes a good photo here isn't it? All natural. |
 |
| A red coloured tree |
 |
| This is the private wing which is occupied by the Sidney family |
We left the place after 1.5 hours later and I suggested driving around the village of Penshurst. We were told that the village was built around the house and it's tiny. I saw a tea room and gasped because it looked so inviting with all the purple Wisterias hanging down from their front door. Lovely!
 |
| A yellow field right outside the manor house |
So fun to find such gems not too far from where we live. Makes us want to explore Kent more.
http://www.penshurstplace.com
Comments