Inside Kingston Lacy House on 27th. June 2018, Kingston Lacy, Wimborne Dorset. BH21 4EA. England.
I did some work on this place many years when I was working. So it was great for me to be able to revisit this beautiful house once again. The last time, the house was being refurbished to get it ready to receive visitors. It is now looked after by the National Trust as it was then when I did the work. Arriving at the timed entry, yes it's better to make a time and date for your visit here because they have so many people turn up some days. We had our membership cards checked and we joined the others who were taking the trip around this house that sits in thousands of acres of landscaped fields and gardens near Wimborne, Dorset. The car park was big enough to hold the already many cars that had turned up to visit on this very hot sunny day in June 2018.
The house was for many years the family seat of the Bankes family who lived nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War after its then owners, Sir John Bankes and Dame Mary, had remained loyal to Charles I. The house was built between 1663 and 1665 by Ralph Bankes, son of Sir John Bankes, to a design by the architect Sir Roger Pratt. It is a rectangular building with two main stories, attics and basement, modelled on Chevening in Kent. The gardens and parkland were laid down at the same time, including some of the specimen trees that remain and are so magnificent today. Various additions and alterations were made to the house over the years and the estate remained in the ownership of the Bankes family from the 17th to the late 20th century.
The house was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1958 and the park and gardens are included in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II. The house was bequeathed to the National Trust on the death in 1982 of Henry John Ralph Bankes, along with Corfe Castle. The house and gardens are now open to the public. The Kingston Lacy estate originally formed part of a royal estate within the manor of Wimborne. The original house stood to the north of the current house.
It was built in the medieval period and was used as a hunting lodge in connection with the deer park to its northwest. Leased to those who found favour with the monarch, lessees included the de Lacys, Earls of Lincoln, who held it in addition to estates at Shapwick and Blandford Forum. In the 15th century the property was leased to John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, whose daughter Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, was brought up at Kingston Lacy. Some of the rooms are ok but the library is something else. It feels right. Some of the other rooms are just too ordinary for me. But are still worth seeing. The views from the house are beautiful.
Having visited Exbury a few weeks ago I thought these grounds were so much bigger and better laid out. However, Exbury did have the train ride and a large lake but you could not view inside the home. Was it worth going to Kingston Lacy House, for sure yes and anyone should try a get there to see this house in all its splendour that the National Trust has spent time making sure this house is pretty much as it was it the days gone. There is a cafe that serves hot food and drinks and is very reasonable in price. Dogs are allowed in many places on leads, signpost are laid where you cannot take dogs on some of the walking areas.
Inside Kingston Lacy House on 27th. June 2018, Kingston Lacy, Wimborne Dorset. BH21 4EA. England.
I did some work on this place many years when I was working. So it was great for me to be able to revisit this beautiful house once again. The last time, the house was being refurbished to get it ready to receive visitors. It is now looked after by the National Trust as it was then when I did the work. Arriving at the timed entry, yes it's better to make a time and date for your visit here because they have so many people turn up some days. We had our membership cards checked and we joined the others who were taking the trip around this house that sits in thousands of acres of landscaped fields and gardens near Wimborne, Dorset. The car park was big enough to hold the already many cars that had turned up to visit on this very hot sunny day in June 2018.
The house was for many years the family seat of the Bankes family who lived nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War after its then owners, Sir John Bankes and Dame Mary, had remained loyal to Charles I. The house was built between 1663 and 1665 by Ralph Bankes, son of Sir John Bankes, to a design by the architect Sir Roger Pratt. It is a rectangular building with two main stories, attics and basement, modelled on Chevening in Kent. The gardens and parkland were laid down at the same time, including some of the specimen trees that remain and are so magnificent today. Various additions and alterations were made to the house over the years and the estate remained in the ownership of the Bankes family from the 17th to the late 20th century.
The house was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1958 and the park and gardens are included in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II. The house was bequeathed to the National Trust on the death in 1982 of Henry John Ralph Bankes, along with Corfe Castle. The house and gardens are now open to the public. The Kingston Lacy estate originally formed part of a royal estate within the manor of Wimborne. The original house stood to the north of the current house.
It was built in the medieval period and was used as a hunting lodge in connection with the deer park to its northwest. Leased to those who found favour with the monarch, lessees included the de Lacys, Earls of Lincoln, who held it in addition to estates at Shapwick and Blandford Forum. In the 15th century the property was leased to John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, whose daughter Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, was brought up at Kingston Lacy. Some of the rooms are ok but the library is something else. It feels right. Some of the other rooms are just too ordinary for me. But are still worth seeing. The views from the house are beautiful.
Having visited Exbury a few weeks ago I thought these grounds were so much bigger and better laid out. However, Exbury did have the train ride and a large lake but you could not view inside the home. Was it worth going to Kingston Lacy House, for sure yes and anyone should try a get there to see this house in all its splendour that the National Trust has spent time making sure this house is pretty much as it was it the days gone. There is a cafe that serves hot food and drinks and is very reasonable in price. Dogs are allowed in many places on leads, signpost are laid where you cannot take dogs on some of the walking areas.