September sees the final completion of our extension to the Barns – made possible by consecutive Sonispheres – which connects the Garden Terrace Tea Room with the Park Toilet block that was built a couple of years ago. The extension includes a Park Gift Shop (no more portacabin – hooray!), which we were able to open at the beginning of May, a lecture/conference room, a new function room with a capacity of 250 (larger than our main Barns), a catering support kitchen and ancillary toilet facilities. There will be a small garden to one side of the new function room, which will connect to the gazebo in the main Knebworth House Garden, and thus become a perfect garden wedding venue.
The extension continues the style of the original Barns, which some will remember were 16th Century tithe barns moved from Manor Farm and Lodge Farm in the village. The Manor Barn was literally lifted up, intact, onto giant wheels and pulled by traction engines the mile or so from Park Lane. At the time – the early 1970s – it was the largest building in this country ever to be moved on wheels. The extension matches these older barns by being oak-framed and timber clad, and creates an attractive and welcoming three-sided courtyard for our visitors, leading to the arched entrance into the formal gardens. The new courtyard is the perfect size for the marquee that hosts the Hertfordshire Business Awards this November, which this year will be hosted by broadcaster Paul Ross.
Did anybody watch “The Hour” over the summer? If you did, you may have thought Juliet Stevenson’s home looked familiar. I haven’t seen the programme yet, but apparently one of the characters comes to an unfortunate end in a hotel room, which is actually one of our bedrooms – not to worry, apparently we have Agatha Christie coming this month. I’m sure she’ll sort it out!
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com