National Trust Knightshayes in Mid Devon

We recently visited the house and gardens, and found all the staff very friendly and helpful especially because at present I am unable to get around without a using a walker. The house and furnishing's were magnificent condition considering there age, and have certainly been cared incredibly by the National Trust house team. The gardens are grounds have also been well maintained by the hardworking Volunteers. This property is certainly worth a visit if you are in the area.

As their Stables Cafe NT website information said: "For a spot of brunch, why not try one of our breakfast baps?", we decided to drive here early yesterday and have these with coffee before exploring Knightshayes for the first time. On arrival we were told that the cafe didn't do breakfasts so we had to make do with coffees as we didn't want cake. The formal gardens, parkland, and house were lovely, with an impressive amount renovation being completed by staff and volunteers. We were disappointed however that we had been misled food-wise, as we had travelled a way, and would have gone into Tiverton for something first had we known.

My friend and I are regulars at the Cafe for either a coffee or lunch. The team in the cafe are always so friendly and helpful, the cappuccinos are perfect and the food is consistently fabulous, especially the soup! We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep! Well worth stopping here for a coffee or food if you are visiting!!

The house was interesting but very gloomy inside. The blinds were drawn but lots of decoration, furniture and ceilings were dark. We went to the cafe. My wife and I are rather fond of scones and NT cafe scones used to be excellent. Never again - our last three visits the scones were dreadful. We also had hot chocolate which wasn’t hot and made with sugary chocolate syrup. It didn’t taste anything like hot chocolate should. NT are supplying cheap sub standard food at high prices. Bringing a sandwich and flask next time.

We had a wonderful visit to this very interesting property. Above all we thoroughly enjoyed the joyful and interested responses from the volunteers who we found to have been the nicest at any NT property. Far too often the room volunteers stand around and many try to avoid eye contact or seem reluctany to engage with the visitors. At Knightshayes they were so keen to answer questions and to provide additional information about this rather unorthodox property. An afternoon well spent & thank you ladies & gentlemen!

Despite walking the dog in the woodland for around a year we finally decided to go in for a mooch and was not disappointed! It’s such a great insight to local history and remember to pay attention to small details that the staff tell you as everything has a great story like the table in the dining room! Despite the current climate with COVID they had the correct measures in place and made it even better with less people being around. Well worth it if your in the area!

What a loverly house and grounds, felt really inviting and relaxing, house only open on the ground floor but really interesting and staff really knowledgeable and helpful, you can walk all around the grounds with loverly view's, well worth a visit

Beautiful place. Me and my family visited just to get out the house for abit and we loved it. If you have little ones and want a place to go out for the day on a walk this is lovely.

Covid restrictions may have affected the offering so we did not feel that the food and drinks were up to NT properties usual very high standards- some other cafes elsewhere seem to have managed to maintain very good food and drink offerings, so can only give an "average" rating here.

Good for a picnic or dog walks.As for the food drinks and service, not good.Cheese scones were dry.Service very slow.Staff a bit sullen.Limited choice of food for lunch and all heavily priced.Coffee was awful.If you are arriving for a days stay then bring your own food and drink!Disabled car parking is a joke with spaces reserved for disabled occupied by other drivers not disabled.Gift shop like all NT gift shop overpriced made in China tat

My husband and I spend a few hours here the other day it was really hot and sunny which helped, we had a picnic on the grass and walked round the lovely grounds and gardens. The house wasn't open because of covid but that wasn't to bad. We were a bit suprised that you had to pay to visit which wasn't a problem but then You had to pay to park as well, bit cheeky we thought.

This is a marvelous place for dog walking and a visit to the restaurant in addition to seeing the house and garden! Friendly staff, nice shop and garden items. Lots of special events too

We didn't go into the house as we had a dog with us but the garden and grounds were amazing. There was also an excellent shop and cafe.

Took the dogs to Impey wood with the kids. A little muddy this time of year so bring your wellies!! Lovely views and enough of the wild to prevent the kids complaining... little wigwams and things to climb on and in. We will be back!!

We enjoyed our visit here in the autumn sunshine. The trees are starting to turn, acers fully turned, others still green. The grounds are vast and varied with plenty of walks either in formal gardens or over the expanse of grounds with varied tree varieties. Loved seeing the many 100s of years old oak trees looking healthy. The house is lovely. There are tea rooms. It is a tranquil place with plenty of room to enjoy it. The children's fun tree play area was closed due to some mud safety issues but as we didnt have grandchildren today it wasn't a problem.

We both enjoyed our visit to Knightshayes house. Unfortunately it was a very wet day with no let up in the rain so we did not do the grounds justice, although we did explore the walled garden which we really enjoyed and bought some fruit and veg from the stand. The house was interesting and the guides made it particularly interesting. Nice shop and cafe. Will return to do the gardens

This place has lots of memories for me. My late husband and I used to visit it regularly. We lived but 20 minutes away so it was a great place to go for a walk as the season's changed. I have now moved counties and found myself near there so decided to visit. It was at least 6 years since I was last there. It has not changed, it is still a lovely house looking down towards the factory sight that the Amory family owned. The grounds and walked garden have matured even more. The little coffee shop in the conservatory is a nice place to stop and have a coffee after you have been around the house. That is the only thing that I found had changed. A lovely place to spend some time and bring back happy memories for me.

Nice place. Lovely cafe evens sell pink gin and tonic which went down well with my locally made icecream

A great cafe to have a bite to eat in on your visit to Knighthayes. Veroed menus, good service and the food well presented

We used this as a stop off to break up a journey to Croyde so we only had about 90 minutes here and it wasnt enough. Lovely grounds and gardens. Great plant sales and fantastic kitchen gardens with produce on sale (take a bag with you!) The cafe looked nice too but we didnt get chance to go in. Well worth a visif.

Absolutely stunning gardens. Beautiful house. One of our favourite national trust properties. We’ll certainly be returning

See my detail in the other review I've done on this place - not sure why there's two ways of doing a review: younger and more friendly staff, visit starts in the cafe, have a 7-minute summary video, house is more interesting than others.

The best kitchen garden I have ever seen. Maintained to perfection. We were fascinated by the number of rhubarb plants growing.

We were on our way home early because of the forecast was to be bad weather coming to Croyde where we were camping and we desided to stop and see what Knightshayes was like.We had no time to go round the garden areas sadly, so just the house.

We went here as a large family group and I was thoroughly impressed. The grounds were beautiful, there was a good proportion of the house open with trails for the kids, which they loved! There were 2 tea shops, toilets and a great maze activity for the kids as a special activity.

Lovely house, esp the Burges Room, and beautiful gardens. Lovely routes for us dog walkers too. Stables cafe area very popular, so unable to eat there as no tables free.

After my family stopped for a picnic at this location, we took the children home while a couple of us adults returned to tour the manor house.

Despite being told not to follow sat nav mine was spot on from the moment we arrived it was so organised. We started with the walk around some of the set walks all kept in great condition we loved the fact all trees plants and shrubs were labelled. The house was fantastic and helped by the volunteers made the visit so relaxing and pleasant. Would recommend to any one family and mature and young so much to explore and with vast amount to see.

A limited menu, but very good quality ingredients which are locally sourced and on great grounds if your want a family stroll. The cream tea is also very nice.

Great place. Very fed up that dog owners/walkers are NOT picking up their dog’s poo. This is such a shame. There needs to be more dog poo bins. That may help I do hope so.

I wish we could have spent more time here. Lovely buggy service from the car park / restaurant to the main house and gardens. Lovely interior and beautiful surroundings. There was also a vegetable garden which we did not have time to see. The volunteers inside the house were very knowledgeable - well worth a trip! Make sure you have at least a few hours to spend there.

The restaurant has a reasonable range of food, although not to much as day goes on. Although one of the meals did not have an equal amount of ingredients.

I visited the national trust Knightshayes along with my friends and my young son. The house and gardens were lovely beautiful plants to admire. When we wanted to have a drink and sit down, we decided to sit in the conservatory. We chose ice cream, brownie they were awful! The brownie was that dry! It tasted like it had been sat there all week. The staff I would say in my opinion weren’t friendly in the cafe. However the volunteers in the main house were so welcoming and friendly showing excellent knowledge of the house and the history. So I will visit the house and grounds again. But will take a picnic.

First time visit today in the rainy haze!

The house is in a lovely location. Not all of the rooms are open to the public which was disappointing. The gardens are well kept and do go on the woodland walk, it’s lovely. The walled kitchen garden is fantastic. This site is worth a visit if you are in the area.

This is a beautiful property to visit and well kept inside - lovely to see the dining room all laid out for dinner.

Stopped here for tea and cake and got a very friendly welcome from the gentleman in the cafe. Nice shortbread and Victoria sandwich. Thank you.

petite cafétéria typique du National Trust, très bons gâteaux dans l'écurie aménagée, environnement convivial et propre

One of the best National Trust sites we've visited, Fabulous grounds and house, better weather and you could walk all the beautiful extensive gardens, good amenities and nice cafe, where we stopped for drinks.

We decided to visit on Easter Sunday on a lovely warm afternoon. After a walk in the conifer woodland and around the grounds wandered back to The Stables for a coffee and a slice of a super Victoria Sandwich cake to round off a lovely peaceful afternoon away from the traffic.

A great garden full of so many spring bulbs and flowering shrubs - really beautiful. Visited here with a pushchair and the staff were very helpful and provided a good map with step free routes throughout the garden and park. Well worth a visit.

After a lovely walk from the car park before opening times, we decided to have breakfast in the cafe (opens 10am) to while away some time before visiting the house (opens 11am); the doors were open, so they were, to all intents and purposes, ready for business. However, first in, there was no sign of a breakfast menu, so we had to ask what was available. There were two members of staff who gave a very quick verbal run down and said they would put the breakfast board up - why wasn't it already up if they had opened the doors? Having ordered our coffees while deciding what to have, one member of staff started to make them. The other person then asked if, when she had finished, she could move "these, which have just been left there", referring to something below the counter. The reply was that she had "brought them down yesterday" and she continued making our coffees. The other woman then picked up and dumped on the counter some box files, with obvious irritation, despite having asked them to be moved "after finishing", which was not the case. It was uncomfortable to witness.

Called into Knightshayes on a sunny Saturday morning on our way home from a holiday in North Devon.

We visited on a random sunny day to check out he new outdoor play area and weeent disappointed! This is great for kids that love the outdoors and to climb and swing! It's safe and clean and you can bring the dogs in too!!

There breakfast is a great way to start your day wandering around the Estate .It is cooked to order therefore it's still hot and tasty ,there is a varied menu for various times of day ,worth a look !

We were lucky enough to visit this lovely place in the recent beautiful weather. Although rather deterred by previous reviews of the café, we were pleasantly surprised to find a good menu in The Stables. My husband had the quiche and said it was the best he'd ever had. I am dairy and gluten intolerant - a difficult combination - but the very nice manager on the day (I think his name was David) told me that the bowl of Chinese chicken stew would be fine - as indeed it was. The service was efficient and the staff all very helpful. Well done N.T.

We stopped for a coffee and found an excellent Sunday lunch being offered with local produce where available. Food really tasty and fresh. One downside was only one person carving and serving which caused a queue when first got there. He worked hard to remove waiting as can be seen by photo. otherwise 5 stars

Loved the house - beautifully furnished inside and really well worth the visit. Gothic style house. Gardens beautifully landscaped too. We visited in early March when daffodils were out. Highly recommended.

Great food and lovely friendly staff. Cafe uses much produce from the onsite kitchen garden. Fantastic carvery on Sunday until the end of March I think.

A lovely walk through very well presented grounds, readily accessible to all even those less mobile. Well made and maintained routes around the grounds. To finish I can well recommend a snack, light meal or full 3 courses from the very good menu at reasonable prices. The café is in the old stable block very sympathetically restored.

This is a review about the restaurant food, not the actual knightshayes grounds which are actually beautiful.

Very enjoyable, afternoon. Picturesque setting, with lovely views . Grounds are well maintained and extensive . House ,interesting and restoration work is superb ..Grounds and restaurant are dog friendly..

Super national Trust property!Lovely walks and can’t wait till house opens with Christmas Decs!Well worth a visit

We love knightshayes it’s my favourite national trust house. We go to most events here being value for money and a national trust member. I would highly recommend the Halloween trail in the house. I have 3 children and it’s suitable for all ages really. Craft activities are good. My girls like doing them. We love looking around the house and gardens and have done on numerous occasions but we still love it. The grounds are fantastic for dog walking or just family walks. There’s also a great park for the children. The stables restaurant gets a bit busy it could do with being slightly bigger. Highly recommend.

Just surprised that we have not been here before - will definatly be coming again. National Tust are working so hard to make old properties a family day out and they definately succeeded with Knightshayes. Helped that the weather was cold but bright. At the end of a busy day, we had to clear our own table when we took tea.

Fancied a nice walk in the countryside and a light lunch with my visiting Daughter.

Knighthayes (home for 3 generations of the Heathcoat Amory family) was originally designed as a Gothic revival house by William Burges back in the early 19th century. In 1972 the house and the majority of its outbuildings plus the parkland and gardens were handed over to the National Trust who have now been able to bring the estate back to its former glory

Knighthayes is certainly different from all the other houses we've been too. A Gothic masterpiece.The rooms are stunning especially the ceilings.Well worth the visit,lovely surroundings great for dogs,loads of parking.Cafe does small meals cakes etc.

Sadly no time to look round the house on this visit, but the grounds (classic parkland and more) are impressive, the large walled garden is beautifully looked-after and a delight to stroll around (& clearly produces prolific amounts of fruit and veg and flowers), and the cafe with sunny gravel terrace and a view outside is well up to the best National Trust standards - as are the scones.

Set in about 200 acres this is one of the National Trusts gems. There is a 4 1/2 acre kitchen garden which always held the attention and the house itself was well presented. Lovely grounds to explore.

One little hiccup - if you come on the motorway, the post code on the website takes you to the back of the estate, where a sign says that this is not the entrance and that you need to go right (which we tried to do but there was no turning right for ages, just farm land), but really you need to go back to the t-junction and then turn right, which the sign forgets to tell you. Once there, the house is a true gem. There were lots of interesting things to see in the house and even though it didn't have a guided tour, there were guides there who could give us information as soon as we shown a little interest. Very nice, obliging people, with a wealth of knowledge. Not having a guided tour was actually a good thing, as we could go in whenever we wanted rather than wait for the tour to start at a set time as in other houses. The gardens were also really, really nice, and they kept us walking for a few hours - a great way to exercise without thinking about it. Beautiful hidden little gems, such as a pond with lily pads or a hidden garden, which needed discovering, all bursting with fresh flowers and surrounded by a large variety of plants. A truly lovely day!

Worth a visit. This interesting national trust property has been largely restored with the kitchens still to do. Interesting period artefacts and decoration . Walled kitchen garden is enormous and very well tended. Parkland surrounds the house and there are views across the park land of the family factory from the upstairs windows. The restaurant has locally grow produce on offer at the usual (slightly high) NT prices

A good example of a classic National Trust property. Gardens lovely and the walled garden exceptional. Key in Bolham into your navigation equipment and you’ll get there no problem..

Fascinating building and the gardens are well worth exploring. Usual National Trust facilities and a great little used book store.

This is such a great place to visit really interesting house to visit. Amazing walled garden and superb walks. Easy to get to. About 4 mikes off M5 jinx 27. And if you’re a national Trust member it’s completely free We shall return

The walled garden is particularly interesting with turrets and staggered wall. The house is a bit of a Victorian “gothic” monstrosity but well worth looking around for its unusual qualities. Unfortunately the coffee shop had the slowest service ever, even though I told the girl serving me that there were 20+ people getting off the coach behind me, she still didn’t get anyone else to help her! Typical National Trust I’m afraid.

Went there on a blistering hot day and one of the few choices was soup, crazy. The food available is very limited, 4 choices of sandwiches, a few choices of cake or scones. The Conservatory tea room was not open. Staff were polite and helpful.

This is a National Trust property and is very interesting although a little strange with its design and architecture but that said it was an enjoyable visit and the guides were very informative. There could have been a better selection of food although the cream tea was good.

Probably all day could be spent at this place. the house is amazing and takes a good while to look around. This is quite a large property and involves considerable walking. The volunteers as usual were very knowledgeable.

An amazing house but only if neo gothic turns you on ! The gardens are spectacular . The stables and coach house are beautiful but the most AMAZING part of the whole estate was for me the walled produce garden. What a huge vege patch! which the Nat Trust has resurrected brilliantly. Trust volunteers were all enthusiastic and had lots on info to share. Than you volunteers for adding so much to the visit.

Great day out, wonderful gardens, nice house, staff very friendly and helpful, had sandwiches and drinks in the restaurant, one of the best NT properties we have been to,

The house inside is very different to what we expected. Very colourful & interesting. Well worth a visit. The gardens are lovely. The restraunt was busy but plenty of seating. We had the cream tea which was really nice.

Worst scones I've ever had so dry and flovour less couldn't eat them without loads of cream. Dirty dishes lying around for half an hour wouldn't go back

Lovely National Trust property with an incredible garden which, for us overshadows the house. Staff were all incredibly friendly, very knowledgeable and proud of the lavishness and extravagance of the building.

This is a lovely place. The house is a grade 1 listed gothic building with lots of amazing decorated ceilings and tapestries to see. The tour of the house will take approximately 40 minutes. Outside there are amazing gardens with many different species of plants. There is an adventure play area for children and lots of open space for picnicking. There are two cafes, one smaller in the conservatory and another in the old stables, where hot food is available. The garden shop offers lots of plants for the enthusiast. Amongst the gardens is a walled kitchen garden which supplies the cafe with produce.

Expensive food that is average, long que, long wait for food...not enough staff they all look stressed. Parking expensive too. Next time will take a picnic and eat in the grounds

This is a beautiful property and well worth a visit. We spent several hours walking and exploring the gardens and the house. Another well presented place by the National Trust. Get your reward card topped up in the café for hot drinks and lovely cakes.

Popped up to Knightshayes for a walk around the gardens with my girlfriend. We stopped off at the stables cafe afterwards for a coffee and to share a piece of cake. We chose "Homemade rhubarb cheesecake tray bake".

Sunday lunch and I do enjoy roasts and have special dietary needs so opted for the Jacket potato. Large potato with cheese and salad the only problem was keeping it all on the plate. Pot of tea was wonderful, just wish there had been gluten-free cake.

Visited recently and was impressed with the amount of restoration completed to date and work planned for the future. A William Burgess Gothic Revivalist mansion this has lots to offer including forest trails, things for kids to do, and a very interesting history of the house and its owners. The cafe has a varied selection of meals and snacks served in the stables. The restored walled Garden must be one of the best and most complete I've seen with a unique Burgess touch of conical towers at the corners. Staff in the house were knowledgeable, engaging and enthusiastic. You could easily spend a whole day here. We'll worth a visit.

Visited on way home on Easter Sunday. We arrived just after midday and enjoyed a superb roast dinner. I had the nut roast, my wife had the roast beef. The selection and quality of cooking of the vegetables was superb. The nut roast was delicious, succulent, and made with ingredients from their garden. Looking forward to a return visit.

We enjoyed a visit to the garden and house which was enhanced by the excellent lunch in the restaurant. The food was mostly locally sourced and some vegetables had been grown in the garden.This of course made them taste much better.

Despite ours being a winter visit, we were most impressed by the way we could see into rooms that were not open to actually walk through and the knowledge and helpfulness of room staff.

The restaurant is a good stop after dog walks or on arrival to the property - the service and baked goods are very good. The outside seating is nice in the old stables, but if you can, walk to the conservatory tea room connected to the main house, lovely views and atmostphere. Be careful they are only open some of hours and shut down like Kiosk Keith!!

I am a bit fussy with a Sunday roast and am often disappointed with the vegetables but here they seemed to serve a large selection of vegetables dishes that are tasty and not over cooked. I've had the lamb twice now and been succulent and full of flavour. Others in the party had the pork and were most compliments although the crackling I personally didn't like. £10:95 or £8:95 for a side plate size portion so not cheap but in my opinion worth it.

Very poor selection, had run out of jacket potato’s, only other hot meal on offer was a spiced soup or a butternut squash soup, this one we had but it was so spiced with orriander that our throats and mouth were burning after eating. It was a very cold day and we really needed hot food.

Whilst on holiday in Devon we saw the signs for this National Trust property and decided to visit. It was easy to find and well signposted.

The children's food was terrible old brown floppy celery, red pepper and carrots. My daughter wouldn't eat the popcorn with added sugar far too sweet. Why add sugar anyway. Dreadful cheese sandwich. Poor value for money.

We arrived just on 12 and were served quickly. Queues developed soon after. A good lunch with a variety of options. Beef bap seemed disappointingly small. Turkey pie was excellent and a hearty portion as were the sausages with bubble and squeak. Cauliflower salad could have had a bit more flavour and zing.

Had such a good "Christmas" lunch here last year that we drove up especially to repeat the experience. Very good value Roast Parsnip and Butternut Squash Bake served with herby roast potatoes, red cabbage and a salad garnish. Produce from the walled garden. Excellent value at £8.95 - followed by delicious tart apple crumble and an enormous portion of clotted cream. But as other reviewers say you have to get there early: we had a good choice at 12.05 but things were selling out by the time we left.

This was a superb evening that could be enjoyed by the whole family. The car park is conveniently located next to the cafe and the shop. The latter was filled with lovely gifts for Christmas stockings and secret Santa gift ideas - definitely worth a peruse.

Took the dog on some lovely walks here. Wind blowing, leaves falling and dog covered in mud. Lovely

Had a nice coffee here when we arrive and came back leter for a late lunch. Only gripe is in common with our experience at other NT restaurants, the daily specials had nearly all sold out, which was disappointing. The celeriac soup that we had was fine.Marked down for service because we ordered a capuccino and a latte but were giventwo lattes.

We visited Knightshayes for the first time for the food festival. We weren't disappointed and found excellent ales, cider, cheese, coffee, goats meat and quite a number of other items on sale at interesting stalls.It was noticeable that all the stall holders were cheerful, engaging and keen to tell us about their products, with plenty of samples to try.It was rotten weather, but the buzz in the food tent made up for the gloom outside. As National Trust members, it was a very good excursion and we hope to return next year.

Very busy and Carpark nearly full at 11am. Long queues in the stables cafe. The gardens where lovely, well tended. The house was ok, seemed a bit disorganised. Staff pleasant though. Far too much Halloween cobwebs stuff draped everywhere.

A very dog friendly place with plenty of walks both on and off lead. As we visited in the winter we were allowed to walk our dog around the formal gardens, which are stunning. Sadly we couldn’t go in the house but are planning to revisit with our dog so we can walk around the house. From the one room we had a quick look in, in looks like a stunning building to walk around. The cafe offered a range of food and drink and was fairly priced. It was also nice that they had a covered seating area we could in with our dog as usually we have to sit out in the open.

So glad we found this place .such a different and interesting history and wonderful renovation. We were wowed by the differant painted ceilings in the many rooms we could wander round at our leisure .the guides were very friendly and informative and not there to stop you getting up close with the details in the furnishings and fabrics.in fact nowhere was condoned off and we could wander round at our own pace instead of being shepherded behind everyone else.the renovations are unbelievably good with lots of photo books to show how the work progressed .we don't usually buy guide books but we wanted to know more ! A must see .

The gardens here are beautiful but very disappointed in the house as such because there’s not a lot to see. Restaurant lovely so recommend this for families wishing to walk in beautiful surroundings and have something nice to eat

Lots to see. Still a good amount of colour In the kitchen garden and other flower borders. Produce from the garden and a good selection of plants in the nursery for sale. House is spectacular. Extensive parkland to explore with some quirky wicker animals dotted around! Staff very friendly and well informed.

Called in here on way home from holiday in North Devon. Large car park in woodland setting, free for NT members, pay and display for non members. Warm welcome as always at National Trust properties. Good coffee and cake selection. Short walk to house. You need to walk through the house to get to the gardens. There are formal gardens, woodland gardens and a walled vegetable garden, all well worth a visit. Visited here about 9 or 10 years ago and visitor facilities have improved in that time. Worth a visit if you are in the area.