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Knole Stories
Interviews about the history of Knole in Sevenoaks, Kent
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You are here: Home>Coverage (by century)>20th

20th

  • Alan Grubb

    Bricklayer and builder at Knole, 1963-87
  • Ann Hammond

    Ann's mother was live-in assistant to the housekeeper in 1960
  • Annabel Wylie

    Professional textile conservator - the King's Bed project 1982-1987
  • Arnold Rogers

    Schoolboy memories from 1944
  • Audrey Longley

    Audrey's mother and two aunts worked as Still Room maids at Knole in the 1920s
  • Barbara Elgar

    Barbara's grandmother and great-aunts worked as housemaids at Knole
  • Bill Manning worked on the Ballroom sconces

    Knole's carpenter in the 1960s and '70s
  • Charlie Beavin, Head Gardener at Knole from 1938

    Born on Knole Estate, started work from the age of 14
  • Christmases at Knole

    Memories of interviewees from the earliest decades of the 20th century
  • Clare Fallows

    More than four decades as volunteer Room Steward
  • Cynthia Hurrell

    Volunteer, King's Bed conservation project, 1970s
  • Cyril Haysom meets the Queen Mother in 1980

    Cyril was stonemason at Knole, 1963-84
  • David and Margaret Richie

    Knole Estate gardener and housemaid, 1930s
  • David Arrowsmith

    Knole Estate carpenter 1965-1979
  • Dorothy Raleigh

    The early days of room-stewarding
  • Douglas Jeffery

    Nephew of Knole's Housekeeper, Bertha Jeffery, in the 1920s
  • Eileen Bennett

    Sevenoaks resident, with memories from the 1930s
  • Emmy Arlett

    Knole Estate Fencer's daughter, grew up in estate cottage in the 1910s and 20s
  • Eve Tucker

  • Eve Tucker, Knole volunteer since 1987

    Sevenoaks resident and wartime reporter for the Sevenoaks Chronicle
  • Gwen Froggatt

    Gwen visited Muriel Pinner, housekeeper at Knole in 1945
  • Hugh Sackville-West (1919 -2001)

    Lord Sackville's father was Agent and Administrator of Knole, for Knole Estates and the National Trust
  • Ian Mason

    Ian's father, Frank Mason, was Knole's Estate Manager, 1943-67.
  • Ian Pattenden

    Ian's grandparents were Knole front hall porters between the two world wars
  • Introducing this website

    updated March 2026
  • Jack Pattenden

    Memories of parents - liveried Wicket Keepers [Front Hall Porters] at Knole
  • Jacquie Elphick and Linda Grimwood, childhood memories of visiting Knole

    Visiting their aunt and uncle, Knole Lodge keepers in the 1950s and '60s
  • Janet Harwood

    Janet's father was Fred Piercy, works foreman at Knole 1960-85
  • Jenny Wright and Ethelwyn Osborne

    Volunteer needlewomen on The King's Bed project, 1974-1987
  • Jim Potter

    Jim's father and grandfather worked at Knole from 1909
  • Joan Padfield

    Joan went to Knole in 1942 to learn how to clean and cook
  • John Martin

    Caring for Knole's clocks for more than 20 years
  • John Scott

    Sevenoaks resident, memories of Knole Park 1945-63
  • Judy Raschen

    Former tour guide at Knole in 1957
  • Kate Arding, childhood memories of Knole where her mother worked

    Summer holidays at Knole, from the age of 8 to 12
  • Kay Stratford recalls her mother’s service in about 1900

    Kay's mother was roast meat cook in the Knole kitchen
  • Lucy and Agnes Hodder

    Daughters of a Head Gamekeeper at Knole
  • Marcia Barton

    Knole volunteer (1987-2019)
  • Margaret Kingsnorth, 1960s nanny to Sackville-West family

    Nanny to some of the Sackville-West children in the early 1960s
  • Margaret Simmons née Beavin

    Head Gardener's daughter, Margaret lived for 50 years on Knole Estate
  • Maria Stevens

    Knole Estate servant during the Great War
  • Martin Drury remembers Vita Sackville-West's rocking horse

    Martin first arrived at Knole in 1973. His long association with Knole continues into the 21st century.
  • Mary Bates

    Mary assisted Sir Malcolm Sargent when he lived in the Gatehouse Tower at Knole post-1945
  • Michael Doggett

    Heating and plumbing designer at Knole for 40 years
  • Molly Dinham

    Molly's father-in-law was Lord Sackville's groom and coachman, pre-1914
  • Mr and Mrs Collins

    Blacksmith and assistant cook at Knole, 1920s
  • Mr and Mrs Jack Tye

    Memories of the 1987 storm in Sevenoaks
  • Music at Knole

    Stone Court summer and Great Hall Christmas concerts
  • Pilacita Pluckrose

    Daughter of Knole's cook and the valet to the Spanish Ambassador
  • Pru Carter, née Fairweather

    Chauffeur's daughter, growing up at Knole
  • Richard Wakeford

    Knole's property manager for the National Trust in the 1980s
  • Robert Sackville-West, Lord Sackville

    Childhood days at Knole, 1967-1970s
  • Roy Calthorpe remembers cycling to Knole in 1957

    Headed a school trip by bicycle from London to visit Knole in 1957
  • The Beatles at Knole in 1967

    Filming in Knole Park in 1967
  • Vic Paler

    Related to one of the first 3 National Trust guides at Knole in 1946
  • William Hughes, aged 17, Second Footman's duties included polishing the Knole silver

    Rose from Second Footman to Knole Butler
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