Cobwebs at Knightshayes

Shock! Horror! A National Trust property unclean? What’s this about cobwebs at Knightshayes estate in Devon, the home of the Heathcote Amorys?

Don’t worry – we were visiting at Halloween and got caught up in all sorts of spooks and spectres.

Cobwebs everywhere!

As we entered the first thing that struck us was how dark it was. Many stately homes have dimmed light to protect many of the delicate fabrics and treasures but this was way beyond the norm. We soon realised that this was going to be an experience with a difference!

The house has two minstrel galleries that you can go to to look down on the great hall below. This was where we got the best view of the work of some busy spiders!

Anyone for supper?

 

Horror trail

As Halloween was during the school holidays here in the UK, it was great to see a trail for the children to do that included tracking traditional horror stories. So we had Dracula, Sherlock Holmes ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ set in the moors not far from Knightshayes and ‘the Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe.

 

 

Just an ordinary stately home

 

The staff had done a grand job for Halloween although I wouldn’t want the job of clearing all that web away! We were still able to enjoy this Gothic revival  house and it’s many beautiful features. I discovered that there was a great selection of wall papers. Obviously not part of the original decor, it makes a great talking point.

 

There’s more outside

 

The extensive grounds are a delight in the summer and offer a great adventurous walk in the autumn and winter. As we wandered around we noticed that we had been warned about what was to come inside!

 

We were very impressed with our visit. It is good to see the National Trust really reaching out to the range of visitors it gets throughout the year. If you are in the area, do take a trip to Knightshayes where they are now getting ready for Christmas.

I wonder what happened to all those spiders!

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