In 1698 Walter Burdett, a younger son born nearby at Foremark, retired from the Middle Temple. On land leased from his friend, Thomas Coke of Melbourne, he built for himself a most curious house on the side of a ravine. Here, being a likeable and sociable person, he entertained his many friends; and around it he formed a garden which, for all its formal structure of terraces and pools, blended evocatively with the natural landscape – remarkably so at that early date.

In the 1760s the house was pulled down by Walter’s great-nephew, but the atmosphere of a woodland retreat was preserved – and so was a tunnel leading to a mysterious rock-cut chamber from the cellars. A Gothick summerhouse, which soars like a ruined castle on the valley’s edge, was built on an upper terrace, with a cottage for a custodian behind. Until abandoned in the twentieth century, parties came often to walk here amid the picturesque delights of trees and water. Picturesque it still is, but parents will want to keep a close eye on small children because of steep drops and the stream in the ravine below.

By 1989 Knowle Hill was divided between three owners. Its remote position down a long gated farm track deterred most would-be rescuers, but it is now reunited, and the quiet process of revival is under way.

We have repaired the cottage for you to stay in, with the summerhouse as your drawing-room. It opens on to a sunny lawn, with a view into the woods beyond and, if you are lucky, a glimpse of water tumbling over a cascade.

View our history sheet for this Landmark

Sleeps: 5