Address
Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, TN15 0NT
Parking
There is parking in the National Trust car park which is a short walk from the venue.
History
Ightham Mote is a medieval moated Manor House dating from the 14th Century. The earliest recorded owner was Sir Thomas Carne and through marriage was owned by generations of the Haute family – one owner being Sir William Haute who composed music. In 1581, Sir William Selby bought the estate and it remained in the Selby family for nearly 300 years. In the Nineteenth Century, the house became a centre for the artists and writers of the Aesthetic Movement including John Singer Sargent – who painted the house and some its guests. In the Twentieth Century, the house belonged to the Colyer Fergusson family eventually being auctioned after the Second World War and nearly demolished. Prior to becoming a National Trust property, the house and gardens were rescued by the American, Henry Robinson. Ightham Mote has many of its original features dating back to 1320 and has 70 rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The house is surrounded on all sides by a moat crossed by three bridges. Pevsner described Ightham Mote as “the most complete small medieval Manor House in the county.”
