It’s that exciting time of year when large boxes cram the Reception of our Estate Office. This is the arrival of new stock for the Knebworth Park Gift Shop. Boxes and boxes of fluffy dinosaurs and medieval knight-wear for the crusading pre-schooler, and of course many bespoke Knebworth House gifts that are only available in this shop. Nowhere else in the world can you buy a stylishly illustrated Knebworth House Tea Towel, or a yummy pot of Knebworth House honey made by Knebworth House Garden bees from sweet-scented Knebworth House Garden flowers. So if you are looking for a unique Knebworth gift to take when visiting friends and relations, look no further than the Knebworth House Gift Shop.
I’m afraid this year we haven’t made a Knebworth House jigsaw. The one in this photo we believe is an historic bootleg. We spotted it on eBay. We should be disapproving of it rather than enjoying it, but it has been fun seeing if we know where all the bits of Knebworth House fit. Not so very different from our regular task of collecting the pieces of fallen stucco from around the house and trying to figure out where the holes are that they came from! You’ll be pleased to hear that we know Knebworth House well enough to have successfully completed the jigsaw. I hope one day we will have similar success completing the jigsaw of restoration of the actual house.
Any jigsaw aficionados in the village, my mother Chryssie – in the process of downsizing – has a number of fun jigsaws she is looking to exchange for some she hasn’t done. Do contact her if you would like to trade. We’ll see you at the Parish Open Day on Sunday 26th March. Details on the back of this magazine, which, if you bring to St Mary’s gate on the day gets you free entry to everything… including a Gift Shop overflowing with world-exclusives!
Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH