Killerton

On Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 November between 10.30am-4:00pm the ground floor of Killerton House will be fit to burst with over 50 stalls, showcasing some of the best crafts and produce that the West Country has to offer. There will be plenty of unique gifts to pick up including local crafts plus a chance to enjoy a day out at Killerton’s picturesque garden. Killerton’s annual craft fair kicks off the festive season by giving you a chance to start your Christmas shopping early in some of the mansions beautiful historic rooms. There will be gift inspiration to suit all tastes, from jewellery...

National Trust rangers are working with expert, local horse loggers to protect an Iron Age hill fort on the Killerton estate, near Exeter, as part of a major parkland restoration project.

Next week will see heavy horses start to sensitively extract timber from the historic site, known locally as ‘The Clump.’ Visitors will be able to see heritage conservation in action on an open day to the forestry site on Saturday 5th November, 10am ‘til 3pm. ‘The Clump’ refers to the group of 150 year old beech trees which were planted on top of the Iron Age hill fort behind Killerton House, when...

This year a bumper crop of apples are expected to be harvested in time for the annual Killerton Cider and Apple Festival on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October.

A team of volunteers have just one week, and a 200-year-old cider press, to make all the cider for the year ahead using apples collected traditional orchards on National Trust’s Killerton estate. Fine summer weather has meant the orchards are bursting with fruit. National Trust rangers and volunteers have been busy harvesting the many varieties of apples that make Killerton’s award-winning cider and apple juice. As the last...

Killerton’s annual apple harvest is fast approaching and the National Trust property is calling out for volunteers large and small to help with their ‘Big Pick Up’ weekends. This year looks to be a bumper crop and the trees are heavy with fruit which shows the summer rain was good for something after all!

Killerton needs your help to collect the fallen apples that make its award winning cider and apple juice. If you can help then join the ‘Big Pick Up’ weekends in Sparrow Park Orchard, Killerton on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October or on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October. Armed with...

Did you ever think about how we went from wearing animal skins to garments we made ourselves?

Come along to Killerton House between the 8 -18 September and see it happen. Learn how fabrics are made from fibre, how they are spun, dyed and then woven, knitted or crocheted into clothes and household textiles. Have a go at spinning, weaving, braiding and dyeing. The Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers are holding their National Exhibition at Killerton House. The exhibition shows the finest examples of items made by Guild members from across the UK and has...

Volunteers at Killerton are well underway with making decorations for this years’ hotly anticipated theme ‘A Grimm Christmas’.

For the first time, the National Trust property will bring to life the classic fairy tales this winter, and as Christmas at Killerton has become so popular, booking timed tickets to the exhibition will be essential.

‘A Grimm Christmas’, based on The Grimm Brothers’ classic fairy-tales, will be Killerton’s fifth Christmas celebration.

The volunteers work hard to make each year more extravagant than the last, and decorations are started as...

Killerton estate apple juice fought off stiff competition to take home Overall Drinks Winner at the National Trust’s Fine Farm Produce Awards and Killerton won four more awards for its sparkling cider, charcoal, honey, and its Clyston Mill stoneground flour. The Fine Farm Produce Awards recognise the best food and drink being produced by National Trust farms and estates. Now in their 11th year, the awards acknowledge the contribution to nature conservation and quality food and drink by the farmers and producers who occupy the 500,000 acres of farmland in the care of the National Trust. The...

Eleven South West products (27 nationally) were bestowed with one of the food and farming industry’s highest honours, a National Trust Fine Farm Produce Award, at BBC Countryfile Live yesterday, with Tregullas Farm, the most southerly farm on mainland Britain, winning the National Trust’s first-ever ‘Farming with Nature’ award. Winner of the Overall Drinks Award, the Killerton Estate near Exeter is one of the largest estates looked after by the National Trust, and one of Devon’s most innovative producers. As pure as can be, its moreish sweet-sharp apple juice is pressed using traditional...

This summer, three laugh-out-loud performances will entertain the crowds at Killerton near Exeter. The evening theatre shows will be brought to life by Heartbreak Productions and The Lord Chamberlains Men against the backdrop of the National Trust hillside garden. The entertainment kicks off on Thursday 14 July, 7.30-10pm, with Heartbreak Productions adaption of Oscar Wilde’s classic ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Expect hilarious mistaken identities as everyone learns the vital importance of being earnest. On Tuesday 2 August, 7-10pm, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men reimagine Shakespeare’s...