• Who is Organised Jo?
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Organised Jo

Life of a Working Mum - Family / Organising / Home

You are here: Home / Featured / A Devon Day Out: Killerton House & Gardens

A Devon Day Out: Killerton House & Gardens

22nd August 2016 by Organisedjo 8 Comments

Back in April this year I took a picture of Paignton Pier and posted it on Instagram using the tag #UKexplore. A few weeks later the lovely Rachel from The Ordinary Lovely blog selected my pic as her top choice for the month and I won a family of four pass to visit a National Trust property. And finally we got around to using it.

Pin image - Killerton

About 50 minutes away from us, on the other side of Exeter, is the National Trust property and gardens, Killerton. The estate covers 64,000 acres in total and is one of the biggest estates looked after by the National Trust. It includes 18 farms, woodland, orchards, parkland and landscaped gardens. We certainly weren’t expecting to cover all those acres but were looking forward to checking out the house and the surrounding gardens.

When we arrived everything was really well signposted and we quickly found our way. After a short walk from the car park we arrived at the lovely little courtyard that housed a cafe, the shop and the entrance to the grounds. As we were signed in we were given a great map of the layout of the grounds including how to get to the house, and off we went.

Killerton map

We decided to tour the house first and then head to the garden for a picnic. The house looked beautiful in the summer sun.

Killerton House

Bike outside Killerton House

On entering we were greeted by a volunteer who gave the girls a worksheet to complete while visiting all the rooms. Their task, to find a mouse in each room and write down what room the mouse was in and what they were dressed up as. We were also told to look out for the ghost in the painting in the drawing room and to find the secret door in the library!

Each room was laid out as you imagined it would have been when the Acland Family lived there. What was great is that you were encouraged to make yourself at home and try the seats out and pick out and read the books on the shelves.

Inside Killerton House

Library at Killerton

The views out of window into the gardens were gorgeous, it must have been a delight to live in the house.

Killerton house and gardens

Killerton house and gardens

After visiting all the rooms downstairs we made our way up the grand staircase and found the current fashion exhibition that is taking place. The girls were in heaven! There were outfits dating back to the 1700’s up to the present day along with an exhibition from students from Exeter College who had been inspired by the fashion on show.

While visiting the exhibition we were encouraged to pick our favourite colour, write on the colour post it note why we liked that colour and then peg it up with the all the others. Seeing all the post it notes hung up by colour was a great sight.

Post it note wall at Killerton

Post it note wall at Killerton

The highlight of the fashion exhibition for the girls was the Rainbow Closet. This was basically a room full of colourful fabrics, pegs and accessories and everyone was invited to dress up. My two were in their element!

Fabrics at Killerton

Dressing up fun at Killerton

Finished outfit at Killerton

After all that fun we made our way back downstairs and went outside to start exploring the gardens. They were beautifully laid out with loads of space to find a plot for a picnic in the sunshine or under the shade of a tree.

Killerton house from garden

Gardens at Killerton

Gardens at Killerton

If you don’t have a picnic there are a range of places to eat. As well as the cafe at the entrance there is also a restaurant in the house itself. There is also the diary cafe in the grounds, which sells lovely ice creams.

Another nice touch was the wooden garden toys that were scattered around the garden for anyone to play with. My two had a fab time after our picnic playing on the wooden hobby horses pretending they were their princess steeds.

After play time we decided to take a walk around the grounds and followed the Acland trail. The leaflet we picked up said it would take about 40 minutes and was relatively flat and easy for pushchairs.

Not long after we started the trail we came across the Bear Hut which had actually housed a real life bear! The girls loved this and enjoyed learning about what the hut was made with and where the bear lived.

Bear hut at Killerton

The trail then took us past a memorial that had amazing views across the countryside, past the ice house and the biggest beech tree we had ever seen. We then went past the back of the house and onwards towards the chapel, which is still used these days for weddings and christenings. Unfortunately my phone battery died and I couldn’t get pictures of it but before we got there we did find some rope swings which were a great source of entertainment.

Rope swings at Killerton

After visiting the chapel the trail took us back to where we started at the courtyard where we treated ourselves to a well deserved cuppa and ice cream for the girls.

We had a fab day at Kilerton, spending about 5 hours visiting the house and grounds. I am already trying to work out when I can visit again, which I think will be around Christmas because apparently they light everything up with lots of twinkling lights, that’s me sold!!

If you visit Killerton or have been before I would love to hear about your trip in the comments below.

Jo

X

Family Fever
My Random Musings

More from my site

  • Our week of summer activities in DevonOur week of summer activities in Devon
  • Devon Days Out – Greenway, the home of Agatha ChristieDevon Days Out – Greenway, the home of Agatha Christie
  • Meet the Working Mum – Hattie from Coffee & BubblesMeet the Working Mum – Hattie from Coffee & Bubbles
  • Our family day out exploring ExeterOur family day out exploring Exeter

Filed Under: Day Trips & Holidays, Featured Tagged With: Days out in Devon, Devon, Exeter, Gardens, House, Killerton, Killerton House, National Trust, Picnic, South West, Summer Activities, Summer Holidays, Visit Devon

Would you like to receive weekly tips on how to organise your life?

Comments

  1. Laura - dear bear and beany says

    23rd August 2016 at 4:49 pm

    This looks a lovely place to visit. I love the post it note idea, how fantastic to do and see. My girls would love the bear hunt trail, with the little house X #triedtested

    Reply
  2. Rachel @ The Ordinary Lovely says

    23rd August 2016 at 9:19 pm

    Awww, it looks amazing!! I wish I wasn’t so far away. There are so many gorgeous places to visit near you. I think I might need to bite the bullet and head down with the boys for a week to explore!! x

    Reply
  3. Andrea @ Topsy Turvy Tribe says

    24th August 2016 at 10:57 am

    Looks fabulous, love the range of activities available. Your two look like they had a great time! #BloggerClubUK

    Reply
  4. Colette says

    24th August 2016 at 7:15 pm

    The Bear Hut looks really exciting.
    Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x

    Reply
  5. Emma Plus Three says

    25th August 2016 at 10:56 pm

    Looks great, I’m a big National Trust fan. Lovely photos x #BloggerClubUK

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 100 Amazing National Trust Days Out With Children - Mini Travellers says:
    7th March 2017 at 9:41 am

    […] Killerton At a whopping 6,400 acres there is plenty of room to stretch your legs. There’s plenty on offer around the estate to keep the children entertained with den building, swings and a fantastic play area build around a huge fallen red oak tree! Jo, from Organised Jo says: “Another nice touch was the wooden garden toys that were scattered around the garden for anyone to play with. My two had a fab time after our picnic playing on the wooden hobby horses pretending they were their princess steeds”…read nore […]

    Reply
  2. 11 National Trust Days Out With Children in Devon & Dorset - Mini Travellers says:
    21st March 2017 at 6:31 am

    […] Killerton At a whopping 6,400 acres there is plenty of room to stretch your legs. There’s plenty on offer around the estate to keep the children entertained with den building, swings and a fantastic play area build around a huge fallen red oak tree! Jo, from Organised Jo says: “Another nice touch was the wooden garden toys that were scattered around the garden for anyone to play with. My two had a fab time after our picnic playing on the wooden hobby horses pretending they were their princess steeds”…read nore […]

    Reply
  3. National Trust Days Out in Devon & Dorset with Children - Mini Travellers says:
    4th July 2018 at 9:30 pm

    […] Read Jo’s review of Killerton […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Find Organised Jo online here:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Who is Organised Jo?

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my blog Organised Jo. My name is Jo, a 40 *cough* something year old married working mum living in sunny (ish) South Devon. I live with my lovely and very understanding hubby and our two daughters, who are aged 9 and 6. During the day I work for the local Council as a Communications Officer. I don’t work full time or part time but inbetween doing 30 hours a week. I run Organised Jo alongside my day job and what started as a hobby has now really become a huge passion of mine. Read More…

Looking for something?

Categories



Load More…Follow on Instagram

Pinterest: Organisedjo

TAP
Follow Me on Pinterest

Archived Posts

HIBS100 Index of Home and Interior Blogs
HIBS100
Wayfair HomeExperts

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies, which are small files stored on a server to help ensure a smooth user experience. Some cookies are functional and required to make this website work. Find out how to disable cookies in your browser by reading the full policy.Accept CookiesNoRead the full policy