Look behind closed doors at the future of Knightshayes

Visitors to Knightshayes, Tiverton, on Saturday 9 September will be treated to free admission and the chance to experience behind-the-scenes tours and talks as part of the Heritage Open Day scheme.

The National Trust team have seen the day as a great opportunity to champion the work their organisation does as a charity to help conserve special places like Knightshayes, and talk to people about how their support can help make a difference to their local National Trust property.

There will be tours of both the house and the garden throughout the day that visitors can sign up to, and that will allow them to get under the skin of the Grade I listed Gothic house and its collection, along with the opportunity to find out more about the extensive and much loved garden, and all the work that goes into caring for everything.

As a charity, the National Trust relies on the support of its volunteers who, nationally, give over five million hours a year, and Knightshayes is no exception. There are opportunities to volunteer in all areas, from welcoming visitors and helping people get the most from their visit to the house, to helping the rangers and gardeners, ensuring that Knightshayes is cared for so that future generations can enjoy it too.

Jess Evans, the Head Gardener at Knightshayes says: ‘I get to come and work here every day, and with the changing seasons there is never a day that goes by that I don’t appreciate how lucky I am to be here. But it’s not just me- we have a team of nine gardeners and over 40 volunteers, without whom we wouldn’t stand a chance of keeping on top of the list of jobs we have.

‘More recently, our volunteers numbers have dwindled - I think a lot of people are put off from coming forward to help because they think they need to be specially trained or very experienced,’ continues Jess. ‘But all we really want is people with an appetite to learn and a love of the outdoors. We provide all the training and tools - so we hope by giving people a chance to talk to us and our volunteers first hand, they will realise how they might be able to get involved.’

The tours will be running throughout the day on Saturday 9 September, and there will be a further talk from the General Manager of Knightshayes, talking about the ways people can support their local property, from becoming a member to buying a cup of coffee in the café.

For more information, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knightshayes