The name of Knebworth may be evocative for those who enjoyed pop and hard rock concerts from 1974 onwards, but the small stately home has been featured in many films with its turrets, domes and gargoyles. The Lytton family have lived on the site since 1420, where the Barony of Cobbold is seated.
The official website of the property recommends travel by rail to the larger station at Stevenage, then a taxi. However, the taxi costs about £7 minimum on the meter each way, and admission is £11.50 excluding the house tour, £16.50 with an hour-long house tour. Therefore £14 of taxi fares is more than the admission. Avoid this by using Knebworth’s own small station and walking west to Old Knebworth. There is a footpath all the way, crossing the road four times, until you reach a triangle, then turn right past the private entrance to the House (don’t go in this way), and continue round on the road until just before you leave the village, and the derestricted speed signs appear. Here you will find Church Lodge on the left and a footpath into the grounds. Head for the church and you’ll see a little kiosk where you will be welcomed and directed round the churchyard to the Barns where the people who come by car enter. This whole walk through the village and the estate will take about 40 minutes and gives you the best view of the house from the north aspect.
My guardian angel was on overtime on 28th July, when I arrived at Knebworth station at 1004. The station opened in 1884 generating a settlement around it, first known as Knebworth Station, then New Knebworth and finally just Knebworth. I checked with the booking clerk that my connection from Knebworth was at 1504 to catch the LNER train from Stevenage to York at 1528 and onward to Chester-le-Street. I had some luggage, so I was delighted to find at bus Stop B outside there was a bus to Old Knebworth. Taking two minutes, the infrequent 44 service to Luton was due in a minute at 1009.Sure enough, within 30 seconds the small bus turned up with only one other passenger and I paid £1.60 to save about 25 minutes walking. If you share my luck, the stop to ask for is Manor Farm, from which walk back to the triangle mentioned above.
After meeting some of the visitor services team, I left my luggage in the shop (note to all attractions: left luggage is a requirement for public transport users, even those using a taxi!). I explored the formal gardens and woodland grounds, including the popular dinosaur park with about 20 full size models, which was entertaining and well as educational, and ended up on the 1230 House tour. The interiors were stunning, but I was most pleased to see a British Petroleum cheque signed by David Cobbold in 1983 to the Inland Revenue for £684,149,248..00, representing taxes on oil revenues. About that time, I was a messenger at BP’s London HQ.
After the tour, a climb up the Watchman’s Tower to see over the House, with interesting stories about Edward Bulwer-Lytton whose writings were as popular as his friend Dickens (“the pen is mightier than the sword”) until Dickens grew the more famous. I had seen everything except the adventure playground named Fort Knebworth, in the open parkland. I walked back towards Knebworth and through the welcoming doors of the Station Pub for a quick meal before my connecting train north.
www.knebworthhouse.com Free local map: streetmap.co.uk – Ask for SG3 6QB
