Ightham Mote

Fairly nearby, through ever more tiny, twisty and dark holloways, we drove to the 14th century moated Ightham Mote, the oldest extant English manor house. Apart from its sheer age, the oldest parts dating to 1320, it is significant in that the succession of owners, including, lastly, an American, did very little to remove or destroy the early construction. Indeed, the National Trust spent some $15MM taking Ightham Mote apart and putting it back together, partly for preservation and restoration and partly just to learn how construction was done so many centuries ago. The reconstruction was recorded in great detail. Ightham Mote is a square manor building, ranging around a large central courtyard, surrounded on all four sides by its moat, some 70 different rooms in all. The restoration is aimed at returning the house simply to its 1985 status, when it came to the Trust. Oh, it is pronounced "item moat."

Ightham Mote

Another view

And another

Courtyard; the dog house is the only Grade I listed dog house in the nation

Ceiling of the great hall, oldest part of the manor

Parliamentarian armor, found in the moat in the 19th century

"A Pilgrim Returned," tribute to Henry Robinson, who bought Ightham Moat
after seeing an ad in a country living magazine, in the 1930s, then donated it
many years later to the National Trust

Interior view

One of several places where the restoration left a window, here in the ceiling,
in order to view the original architecture

Old musical instrument

One of the 19th century owners had a connection with Mendelssohn, who
recommended buying this piano

Beautiful old mantle

Ightham Moat has two chapels, the original 14th century,
and this, the new 16th century

Look at the new chapel ceiling planks and you will see the
the rose of Tudor Henry VIII, but also the castle of Castile
and the arrows of Aragon of his then wife, Catherine of
Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; a pretty
good aid to dating the place: 1508-1533

Although by no means a great house, Ightham Moat has had its share of visitors;
Henry James spent two nights in this room, "in the company of a ghost," he wrote,
leading some to speculate that Turn of the Screw was born here; its' a fascinating
place in any case