Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles

by Robert Sackville-West

Since its purchase in 1604 by Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, the house at Knole, Kent, has been inhabited by thirteen generations of a single aristocratic family, the Sackvilles. Here, drawing on a wealth of unpublished letters, archives and images, the current incumbent of the seat, Robert Sackville-West, paints a vivid and intimate portrait of the vast, labyrinthine house and the close relationships his colourful ancestors formed with it. "Inheritance" is the story of a house and its inhabitants, a family described by Vita Sackville-West as 'a race too prodigal, too amorous, too weak, too indolent and too melancholy; a rotten lot, and nearly all stark staring mad'. Where some revelled in the hedonism of aristocratic life, others rebelled against a house which, in time, would disinherit them, shutting its doors to them forever. It's a drama in which the house itself is a principal character, it's fortunes often mirroring those of the family. Every detail holds a the portraits, and and all the junk which the subjects of those portraits left behind, point to pivotal moments in history; all the rooms, and the objects that fill them, are freighted with an emotional significance that has been handed down from generation to generation. Now owned by the National Trust, Knole is today one of the largest houses in England, visited by thousands annually and housing one of the country's finest collections of second-hand Royal furniture. It's a pleasure to follow Robert Sackville-West, as he unravels the private life of a public place on a fascinating, masterful, four-hundred-year tour through the memories and memorabilia, political, financial and domestic, of his extraordinary family.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature, Memoir, Autobiography, High Society

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2010

Reviews

[Suzanne Stroh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The biography of a house by the man who lives there today, Robert Sackville-West.

Knole in Kent has been lived in by the Sackvilles since Shakespeare's time. Today it is owned and managed by the National Trust, the destination of thousands of visitors a year.

For readers making a trip to Knole (a veddy large house), your visit will be more enjoyable after reading this book. Many eccentric characters have wandered the halls, and you will recognize their portraits. Among the more interesting facts I learned in this book were details from the eras when Knole was childless. Robert Sackville-West does an excellent job of conveying how childless epochs have not been good for the house, and I think this will resonate with all of us who know the love of houses.

For those of you who want to learn how such a love grows from generation to generation, I think you will be disappointed. Perhaps this is, in part, due to the diffidence that is also known to be heritable in this particular family. I felt the narrator's reluctance to stray into the more poetic realms of house-pride. Had that been accomplished without sentimentality, it would have improved the book.

I bought the book expecting a personal journey. And so I can't help comparing it to an excellent book by somebody in the same family: Robert Sackville-West’s cousin, Adam Nicolson. The book is called Sea Room. Nicolson's natural (and human) history of the Shiant Islands he inherited (passed down from his famous grandparents who could not inherit Knole, Vita Sackville-West being a woman) tells more about this family and its attitude to the land and buildings than Robert's biography of the house.

Or try reading The Land, the long beautiful poem by Vita Sackville-West. It does wonders for anyone's appreciation of rural Kent, great houses and farming cycles. Saint-Exupéry has commented famously on what is truly essential to know, and keeping that in mind, I think you may also be able to learn more about Knole from Virginia Woolf's Orlando than any other source. Another good book set in this house, where the house emerges as a great personality challenging the châtelaine and the anti-hero, is the obscure novel Broderie Anglaise by Violet Trefusis. Woolf and Trefusis shared the experience of being made love to in this house; Trefusis from childhood. Both women loved the woman who loved this house like a girl. Read those novels before you go to Knole.

The other day I looked out into the garden. "Somebody" had left my copy of Inheritance on the little table beside the chair where "Somebody" had been reading it. "Nobody" could remember how it had gotten soaked. "Somebody" took it inside, planning to air-dry the leaves thoroughly. Then "Somebody" gave up and binned it.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very surprised at how much I liked this book. Robert Sackville-West has written a history of his ancestors that is filled with details about the periods through which they lived, from the first Thomas Sackville to the present day descendants. There is much from Vita Sackville-West throughout the book, taken from the author's own discussions with her and from her diaries, letters, and notes. The story of the family's home, Knole House, is told in a lively and well-written style, which makes the book sometimes difficult to put down. One just wants to one more chapter to find out what's going to happen next to the man who inherits Knole next.

I can't decide which of the heirs was my favorite. Some of them were very peculiar people, but others contributed much to British society and history, fought in wars and earned honors from royalty. Sadly, Vita could not inherit Knole because she was female; this broke her heart. After her cousin inherited the house, Vita very seldom visited it. Now that the laws have changed, I wonder if Robert Sackville-West's oldest daughter can inherit?

In closing, I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy British history, Vita Sackville-West, old and modern society, and much more. I've ordered Robert Sackville-West's book on Knole, and hope to receive it very soon so that I can continue to read about the house and its history.

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't know why, I'm fascinated by Vita Sackville-West and this fascination includes Knole, her childhood home.
Her book about it, Knole and the Sackvilles, is not exactly her best, so i decided to read something else. Robert Sackville-West does a much better job describing the house, its inhabitants over the centuries and the family feuds and problems that came with it.
Really worth reading. Now I just have to book a flight and go see it!

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't think that, having finished the book, I could tell you the difference between one Sackville and another, I enjoyed it. It gave me a feel for what it was like both to be nobility during different eras of British history and what life was like in these kind of country estates. I also enjoyed reading about the National Trust and the controversy over their role in the preservation of grand old homes like Knoles.

[Melanie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected to enjoy reading this, but Robert Sackville-West surprised me by creating a book that I found exceptionally enjoyable. He writes with a fair dose of honesty and affection about Knole and his antecedents there. The writing is informative, but never dull - perhaps helped by the writer's familiarity with the topic. Each chapter gives you a flavour of the times described, which the photos also assist in conveying.

I can recommend reading this prior to a visit to Knole. On my recent first visit I found it aided me immensely in providing a broad context and to navigate Knole's manifold aspects. The map and family tree in the book are helpful too with this.

Vita Sackville-West's books and Virginia Woolf's 'Orlando' had given me fascinating impressions of Knole. Reading Robert Sackville-West's book seemed to immerse me and at the same time encourage me to view Knole as if stepping back a little to take a longer and wider picture. Whether you plan to visit Knole, or not, this is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little book covering the history of the colourful Sackville family, told through the story of their seat at Knole. It is witty, charming, and engaging, full of fun anecdotes and descriptions that bring the house, and its former residents, to life.

Unfortunately, I've had to rate it as only four out of five because there are no footnotes - so I'm relying on the word of a descendant of the family, in full awareness that family histories (even those of the greatest families in the land) tend to get inflated over the years - and it is very easy to disprove a few of the stories (like the ever-generous Charles Sackville hiding £50 notes under dinner plates in the late seventeenth century, when the first £50 note was issued in the 1720s. Perhaps this was meant as an IOU, but then there's still a point about accuracy of language). The book is still definitely worth a read, but a salt shaker should, perhaps, be kept on hand.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow at times, a little weighed down by lists of precious objects and names upon names of relevant people, but Sackville-West writes very well about his family and his home and how the two have intertwined over the centuries, for good and ill. I appreciated his sensitivity to all the points of view over the ages; he has opinions and shares them, but all in all he is even-handed in telling the stories rather than gossiping, which I very much appreciated.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography of a house and the family history of those who loved it. Working backwards from Vita Sackville-West lover of Virginia Woolf and wife of diarist Harold Nicolson, I read about her childhood home and its history...lovely pictures which led to YouTube looking at films of the interior of the house and its treasures. It was an interesting family that managed to get next to power and milk it for all it was worth down through history.

[Sally Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book didn’t grab me straight away but it soon got going and I found it very interesting and realised I didn’t really know as much as I thought about our landed gentry the aristocracy. I became intrigued with the inherited and the disinherited and it made me think about the relationship between the National Tust and its occupants and offers a fabulous insight into the aristocracy of today! Well recommend

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about an eccentric aristocratic family and their house, Knole. Written with humour and an easy read.

[Johannes · Rating 2 out of 5]

In sum, it was OK, really, just OK. Some chapters were more interesting than others, I must break it to Lord Sackville that, in spite of his huge efforts, some of his forebearers were dull to say the least. It was well written, but until you get to the Victorians...
- Gosh, this people!
BORING, plain and utterly boring. You could tell how hard as a writer he was trying, and yet failing, to make them at least bereable. Interesting, no, they would never be.

I don't know, perhaps you could google each individual in wikipedia, it will be more interesting, and less costly, both in time and money. Sorry, I really tried, and failed, to like it.

[Jim Kinsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I doubt I'd have picked this up were it not for that we visit Knole quite often; reading a history of an aristocratic family and house by the latest in the line would not usually be high on my list. Which would have been a shame, as this is quite interesting.

Some compelling characters have inhabited the grand country house in its time, though two stand out - Lady Anne Clifford, who stood firm in her resolve in the face of the King himself, and Vita Sackville-West, Virgina Woolf's muse who was denied the inheritance of Knole through primogeniture.

Through these we get a good feel for the house and estate as well, and to some extent English upper class life in general over the past five centuries.

However while I do enjoy reading the history it doesn't compel me to feel sad for the plight of the English aristocracy - their time is passed and that's probably for the greater social good. Vita's distaste for "that socialist" HG Wells is as good an indication as any that their world is not for me, although it's probably not what the author intended.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed The Disinherited: A Story of Family, Love and Betrayal. You can see how the author is moving toward that second book in these snapshots of various ancestors (or not ancestors--titles and land inheritance move sideways in the oddest ways). The fascinating thing is that this is a book by someone who lives every day in the presence of what the previous centuries have left behind, and has an almost obsessive fondness for the stories behind the objects.

Of course when you live in a grand house you're not an owner, you're a curator. There must be a huge weight upon the owners of Knole not to tear down what has been built up at such enormous expense, and not just of money. If you read this book, at some point you need to visit Knole. And if you visit Knole, reading this book will just make the experience richer.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so interesting. After reading some of the Kate Morton fiction books about big English houses with long histories, I wanted to find out some true stories. That's what this is, the true history of a big old house in England with a family that covered 400 years. I also found out that I had another book in my house that had pictures from this ancient house.

This book was well researched by the descendant of the family that still lives at the Knole estate. I hope I can find more books like this.

(I would have given the book 5 stars except that the author quotes some bawdy poetry from his ancestor and contemporaries. Modern rap artists have nothing on the f words from poetry in the 1600s. Not fun.)

[Carolyn Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the histoical account of this home....Although I was surprised I completed this account, at times very detailed about which Duke would inherit the estate next, I could not lay it aside. And did I ever know that the folks who live in these grand estates today more or less rent or own part of the building with the National Trust owning much of the grounds and remainder of the buildings? I have visited a few of these places and was told by the tourist guide that the family occupies one floor or another. Also, one could change their name legally in order to claim inheritance.......if there is some remote connection, even out of wedlock?

This account makes Downtown Abbey look like Little Women!

[Peter F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about 400 years of the Sackville (and later the Sackville-West) family and Knole, the house said family inhabited and/or owned for those four centuries. The history presented in the book, of the family, the house, and of England in general, was interesting, though the focus on the family raised a question in my mind.

The Sackville and Sackville-West family has its fair mixture of normal, boring, and eccentric characters. No more so than your average family, I feel. Which brings me to my question: Are history books written about families because the families are interesting, or because there's enough of a written account of the family to write a comprehensive history?

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair to the author, it must have been far easier to write about the earlier members of his family rather than the ones he knew. When he reached the 20th century, I could feel the tone of the book shift from history to almost psycho-history (along with a good dose of the ghost of Vita Sackville-West). I wish the portraits of the more recent incumbents had been fleshed out a little more, because i got a better sense for the historical ones.

Still and all, a quick, fascinating read. I'm probably rather harsh on people who write history.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

...a race too prodigal, too amorous, too weak, too indolent, and too melancholy; a rotten lot, and nearly all starkstaring mad. I LOVE YOU VITA SACKVILLE-WEST.
This is the delightful tale of the train wreck known as the noble family of Sackville and their home. It is one of the greatest family histories I have ever read. I am currently adding Knole to my list of places to visit.

[Renata Holder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very enjoyable. Gosh what a generally miserable and unhappy family. I don't believe they are to be envied.

I found the family tree at the beginning to be invaluable, because following some of the family connections would have been very confusing without it. I have Disinherited on my shelf, looking forward to seeing the story of some of the have nots.

[Julie Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recommendation from an article in Tatler - I got more and more interested in the history of Knole as I continued reading - has left me wanting to visit and have just downloaded Orlando by Virginia Woolf to read!

[Diane C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was bit dry, although well and lovingly researched by the current Sackville heir living at Knole. Still, glad he wrote it. Knole and the Sackvilles are endlessly fascinating, a HUGE part of British history.

Lots of paintings and photos of the Sackvilles as well.

[Leslie Zampetti · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent history of the Sackville family and their country seat, Knole, written by the current Baron Sackville. Obviously well-researched and with a evenhandedness that is often missing as people focus on Vita Sackville-West and her life at Knole.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting. had to keep checking the family tree to follow who and what, given the trail of inheritance at times. i had envisioned knole differently given vita sackville-west's descriptions in another book, for some reason, and wished there were many more photographs to illustrate.

[Tracett]

I always enjoy learning history through a specific area or situation, and watching life unfold through the house of Knole fits this perfectly. This is a bit dry, but suitably so, it is after all, a history and not a novel.

[Voirrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this telling of the history of the family through the history of the house they inherited fascinating, especially as there were areas of overlap with 'Almina' and 'The Secret Rooms', both of which I have read recently.

[Elsbeth Kwant]

A well-written account of a privileged family. The Sackvilles are good at documenting and framing their own history. The story of inheritance and disinheritance is perceptively and poignantly written by a family member.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of the country house biographies ( there have been so many of late) but still readable if you're interested in the subject.

[Jennybeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interestign biography of a house. Not riveting, but delightful to have an insider's perspective on the progression of these houses through their noble family lines.

[Liz Fenwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book to dip and out of...well written

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of one aristocratic family and its country home.