Leith Hill Place

“If I had to decide what trees  were to be cut, what vegetables planted, what cows sold, I should lose all pleasure in the place–and if I ran the place properly I shouldn’t have any time for my own work.”

(Vaughan Williams 1944)

Leith Hill Place was the childhood home of Ralph Vaughan Williams who gave it to the National Trust in 1944. His grandparents, Josiah Wedgwood III and Caroline (née Darwin) moved there in 1847 and his great uncle, the famous naturalist Charles Darwin, conducted experiments in the grounds.

In July of 2013 the house was opened to the public for the first time since the 1960s and welcomed over 8000 visitors. As a work in progress there is still a lot of work to be done but the house is starting to feel loved again and the National Trust is breathing life back into it.

PARKING

Parking for the house is in the Rhododendron Wood car park RH5 6LU. From the car park, enjoy a leisurely walk down through the woods and over the field, 400m to the house. In wet weather, the route can get muddy. Alternative car parks are at Windy Gap or Starveall Corner (not NT).

Each year a number of special events and recitals take place. Recitals take place in the intimate setting of the Terrace Room at Leith Hill Place – the very drawing room where Vaughan Williams took his first musical steps. Enjoy beautiful music whilst looking out over the glorious views, with drinks outside during the interval, or in the Wedgwood Room.

Click here to visit the National Trust’s Leith Hill Place page.