Discover more at Ightham Mote
Find out when Ightham Mote is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.
A major infrastructure project is under way to redevelop the visitor infrastructure and enhance the historic setting at Ightham Mote, with initial works on 22nd May 2023. The new facilities will enhance the overall setting and secure the future of this historically important and valued place.
A new, sustainable, visitor reception and shop building will be created at the southern end of the walled garden, close enough to the estate for simple orientation and ease of access, but far enough away to maintain the tranquillity around the house itself.
The new building will have a flat roof planted as a green roof to limit its visibility from outside the walled garden. It will embrace sustainable design principles including elements such as a timber frame, generous insulation, natural ventilation, passive shading and an air source heat pump for heating.
The relocated shop will enable us to interpret and present the coach house, a historic building in its own right with its own fascinating history.
The walled garden is an important historic feature of Ightham Mote. By freeing it from its current use as a car park, we will be able to return it to its intended purpose. This will provide a welcome opportunity to involve the community in its creation and longer-term maintenance.
The indicative design is a classic ‘quartered’ one, drawn from historic maps of 1769 and 1803. The detail of the garden will evolve as the project moves forward.
The visitor reception and shop building will be close to the Mote Café, will welcome all visitors to the house, garden and wider estate.
There will be a freely accessible, safe picnic area, away from cars, enabled by the removal of parking from the staff and volunteer car park and the relocation of the gardeners’ compound.
There will be more efficient traffic flow within the site with a small area of relocated parking shielded from view by landscape screening. The existing parking spaces retained have been carefully selected to cause the least impact to the heritage asset.
Since acquiring Ightham Mote in 1985, the National Trust has invested heavily in the conservation and protection of the Grade I listed building and its rare surviving setting. These latest proposals result from years of site planning, in collaboration with a range of experts from many disciplines, as well as a major public consultation.
The plans are designed to provide benefits to the site and to visitors, including:
Find out when Ightham Mote is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.
Uncover the 700-year history of this fascinating medieval house and estate. Discover all about the owners that shaped it over the centuries, their connections and lifestyles.
Enter this medieval half-timbered house across a cobbled courtyard and into the hushed interior. Discover dark wood panelling, huge fireplaces and a mix of furnishings inside.
The garden is at its most colourful during the summer months. With vibrant colours, the buzz of wildlife and space to relax in the historic pleasure grounds, it’s time to make the most of nature.
As the weather becomes warmer, wildlife, trees and wildflowers come alive across the Ightham Mote estate, while and birdsong fills the air.
We believe that nature, beauty and history are for everyone. That’s why we’re supporting wildlife, protecting historic sites and more. Find out about our work.