Knowle Hill Farm

23/08/2024 - 26/08/2024

Web: www.derbyshirecentre.co.uk/rallylist

Knowle Hill Farm is also an Equestrian family run riding stables and livery yard, near Ticknall on the edge of the National Forest. The rally is on Knowle Hill Farm Showground and has a charming feel to it with a bridle path running alongside where you will regularly see horses being exercised. It is also used by dog walkers and leads to Calke Abbey. Calke Abbey is a large stone mansion, built on the site of the Augustinain Priory of St Giles, founded about 1131. It was built by John Harpur as a replacement for his Swarkestone house in about 1701 and is one of the largest country houses in Derbyshire. It became dubbed "the house that time forgot" because since the death of the owner Sir Vauncy Harpur Crewe in 1924, nothing has been altered in the mansion. The inhabitants had left many rooms untouched for over 100 years. The National Trust bought the house in 1985 and it took years of restoration and repair before it could be opened to the public.