Knole House
Knole House /noʊl.haʊs/ NT is an English country house in the civil parish of Sevenoaks in west Kent. Sevenoaks consists of the town itself and Knole Park, a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) park, within which the house is situated. Knole is one of England's largest houses. The National Trust attributes a possibility of its having at some point been a calendar house, which had 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and seven courtyards.
It was constructed beginning in the late 15th century, with major additions in the 16th century. Its grade I listing reflects its mix of Elizabethan to late Stuart structures, particularly in the case of the central façade and state rooms. The surrounding deer park has also survived with few manmade changes in the 400 years since 1600. But, its formerly dense woodland has not fully recovered from the loss of more than 70% of its trees in the Great Storm of 1987.
The oldest parts of the house were built by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, between 1456 and 1486, on the site of an earlier house belonging to James Fiennes, first Lord Say(e) and Sele. Fiennes was executed after the victory of Jack Cade's rebels at the Battle of Solefields. On Bourchier's death, the house was bequeathed to the See of Canterbury. Sir Thomas More appeared in revels there at the court of John Morton — the Archbishop's cognizance (motto) of Benedictus Deus appears above and to either side of a large late Tudor fireplace here. In subsequent years it continued to be enlarged, as with the addition of a new large courtyard, now known as Green Court, and a new entrance tower. In 1538 the house was taken from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer by King Henry VIII along with Otford Palace.
...
Wikipedia