Penshurst Place and Gardens is a National Trust property near Tonbridge in Kent. It is one of the homes in Britain that have been held by the same family for well over 600 years. Part of the house, such as the Baron’s Hall built in 1341, is open to visitors as is a small but interesting toy museum. However, the main attraction to us was the garden area – set out as a series of interlinked gardens. These range from the historic formal gardens to herbaceous borders, ponds and rose gardens. We visited in July so these areas were at their best but there are also peony and camellia areas.
In addition there is a childrens’ adventure playground, a woodland trail and a plant centre as well as the usual, though quite good, restaurant, café and gift shop. We spent about 5 hours there, including lunch, and felt this was about the right amount of time. One point to note, however, is that mobile reception is almost non-existent.
