A Brothers Grimm spell has been cast over Killerton this Christmas.
For the first time, the National Trust property will be transformed into classic fairy tales with a festive twist from Saturday 19 November.
Each year, to celebrate the start of Christmas at Killerton, the staff step out of their day jobs and ‘get into character’ for the festive theme with a specially commissioned photoshoot. This year, the staff portrayed Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood. Visitors can then see scenes from the stories on display in the exhibition (although the staff will be back...
A new children’s play area at Knightshayes Court will be officially opened on Saturday 22 October in time for half-term.
Injecting new life into four fallen oak trees, the installation includes a tree house as well as tunnels bored into the trunks of the huge trees.
For 150 years, the cluster of fast-growing turkey oaks towered over the gentle, rolling landscape at Knightshayes; until the high winds of winter 2014 resulted in all four blowing over. Three came down in just one night, casualties of a storm which caused over 100 trees to fall across the estate, the greatest...
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...
As part of the Great British Beach Clean week (16-19 September), organised by the Marine Conservation Society, the National Trust has a series of beach cleans taking place in Devon and Cornwall this September for volunteers to come along and help clear up their local beach. There are nearly 2,500 items of rubbish for every kilometre on a beach and every year National Trust staff and volunteers use valuable time cleaning up the beaches it clears for and the Trust is calling for everyone to take some time, get out and help clear their local beach. Nick Lawrence, National Trust Assistant...
On Sunday 18 September Finch Foundry in the village of Sticklepath, Dartmoor, will be hosting an exhibition of rural skills both new and old. There will be a range of craftspeople in the Foundry gardens displaying their skills and selling their products, including sugar crafting, loom weaving, rag rugging, wine production, a wood turner, a wool fleece manufacturer, and a blacksmith. There will also be a village duck race, continuing a tradition first started in Sticklepath over 30 years ago. Ben Shapcott, Foundry Manager, says: “We have held several rural craft fairs in the past and, after...
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...
As the summer holidays descend upon us, Knightshayes have kicked off the summer with a packed out programme of exciting events. These include the opportunity to climb the biggest Turkey Oak tree in England as well as achieve lots of the activities on the National Trust’s ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾’ list.
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the summer holidays, there’ll be plenty of chances to get outdoors and close to nature exploring Knightshayes’ wider woodland and parkland. 2 - 4 August: Plant it, Grow it, Eat it. With a huge, fully productive kitchen garden,...
It’s official - the stick is this summer’s must-have item! With the power to unleash every child’s imagination, the humble stick can be transformed into a wand, a way marker, a sword or a wild animal. Sticks are also essential tools for trying many of the ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾’ activities.
Research commissioned for the National Trust revealed that over 82 per cent of parents in the South West felt that the stick is the perfect catalyst for inspiring their children’s creative urges. In this region, children today spend about half the time playing outdoors that their...
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...
Sixty-four nine-year-olds from Year 5 at Broadclyst Community Primary School (BCPS) will be taking on the challenge of re-enacting a famous day in Devon’s history when they perform It’s our land in the house and grounds at National Trust Killerton on 16 and 17 June.
The youngsters will recreate the momentous day in 1925 when 20,000 people packed the parklands at Killerton to hear liberal politician and statesman Lloyd George deliver his powerful Land Reform speech to the people of Devon. This eagerly-anticipated speech took place at a time between the wars when landowners, farm...
