Ightham Mote, Kent. 09.07.11

I visited my favourite house today. It's a medieval moated manor house called Ightham Mote. When I win Euromillions next Friday I intend to make the National Trust an offer it can't refuse. I think it may be happy to offload the place. They've spent a fortune on repairs recently and it still looks decidedly crooked. Cowboy builders.

Ightham (pronounced eye-tum) Mote is set right at the bottom of a beautiful Kentish valley, so your first glimpse of it is a set of rather impressive chimneys. Bit of a gloomy shot, this one. It was an overcast day. Also, the photographer is pants. It took her several minutes to realise that the lens cover was still in place.






Here's the rather pretty entrance tower:-






I look at a moat and think 'how cute'. OH looks at a moat and says: 'it would be very damp and uncomfortable, living in that house. And you would suffer greatly from midges.' I fear we might be incompatible. I may have to ditch him when I buy the place.






This part of the exterior has been completely renovated. It's nice to see it without the scaffolding at last:-






Blue and yellow - one of my favourite combinations:-






The Bish of Llandaff, I presume:-






I think someone recently posted something on the forum about getting rid of borage. It self-seeds everywhere. But I love it.






The growers keep coming up with much fancier plants, but I think a well-grown Clematis jackmanii takes a lot of beating:-






Ightham Mote has a pretty kitchen garden. As well as vegetables, it supplies cut flowers to decorate the house:-






Here's another view of it:-






Sweetpeas on sticks:-






A new planting of ferns in a shady corner:-






This final one is for Penny In Ontario. Penny, the National Trust has renovated this row of cottages which is in the grounds of Ightham Mote. It rents them out as holiday lets. So if you fancy enjoying the Mote when all the visitors have gone home, this might be for you!

 

Lovely pictures Clara. Haven't been for a while but have fond memories of going once on the last day of the season. We were the only ones there at the end and it was dusk so they put the lights on in the courtyard for us. It was magical.

Also, they did a lot of restoration work on it recently and my son-in-law did the roofing, that's why the tiles look so good!

Chris

 

I've never been there Clare, but I'm sure I did some work for the place during the renovation, when I worked for another company.

Nice to see its all finished now and the place looks good.

 

Nice one Clare,

Studied the works going on on it at College, but never visited.

 

HA.......Love it.......fingers crossed you win that lottery Clara.

Remember........save me a room!!