National Trust

Dedicated National Trust volunteers are spending hundreds of hours creating hand-stitched tapestries for chairs inside Killerton House.

The group are revamping 16 chairs each with an intricate design of the Acland family’s coats of arms.

The coats of arms help to tell the story of the Acland’s – an old Devon family dating back to the 12th century.

The designs also identify the chairs that visitors can use and add to the welcoming feeling inside the Aclands’ former family home.

The seat pads will have hardwearing needlepoint designs that are unique to Acland...

Around 500 vintage vehicles are parking up in style to celebrate Classic Car Day at Killerton, the National Trust estate outside Exeter.

On Sunday 15 May, visitors can admire unique cars, enjoy live bands and shop at food and craft stalls against the backdrop of the historic parkland. Classic car enthusiasts travel far and wide to show off their prized vehicles at the popular event in the hope of winning the coveted Killerton House Cup for the ‘best car in show’. In addition, visitors can explore over 40 stalls selling jewellery, furniture, silk scarves and textiles; and food...

On Saturday 7 May the National Trust’s Killerton estate will be asking for volunteers and visitors to come along and help search high and low for wildlife across its meadows, woodland and parkland. The team at Killerton need volunteers to help count everything they find and take part in the first BioBlitz to be held in the iconic parkland.

Everyone is welcome to take part, and whether you’re 6 or 60, every species found will help to create an important scientific record. The National Trust is hoping to record more than 200 species over a 12 hour period, looking out for birds, bats...

After the long wet winter, Castle Drogo’s rhododendron garden is bursting into colour following vital conservation work and visitors can now stroll through the new paths and admire the vivid plants and other spring flowers such as daffodils, camellias and bluebells carpeting the garden floor.

For those who find accessing areas such as the garden or wider Drogo estate difficult, there is now a tramper available to hire as part of the Countryside Mobility South West scheme. The tramper route takes in some of the most fragrant parts of the garden including the azalea path and rose...

Be part of the very first South West Outdoor Festival (23-25 September), tickets now on sale.

The South West is a mecca for outdoor activities and adventure pursuits, and this year the inaugural South West Outdoor Festival is inviting everyone to come and explore the incredible range of opportunities that are taking place around one unique place: Heddon Valley in Exmoor National Park.

Tickets are now on sale for the festival, run in partnership with Cotswold Outdoor, the National Trust’s official outdoor retailer, which takes place over the weekend of 23–25 September. The...

This Saturday hundreds of runners will tackle the 5km course at the National Trust’s Killerton estate to celebrate the fifth anniversary of parkrun and will be baking a birthday cake to mark the occasion.

Killerton was the first National Trust property to work with parkrun to host the popular 5km run.

The free run takes place every Saturday at 9am, and the number of runners has grown from 44 at the first Killerton parkrun to over 370 on the busiest ever day. The parkrun organisers hope to break the record this week as the event reaches its five year milestone.

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The National Trust is launching an Outdoor Explorer Club for kids at the Killerton estate near Exeter. The club is all about adventures and exploring – with no parents allowed.

The importance of outdoor experiences in childhood is part of the National Trust’s strategy to engage young people with nature as part of its Land, Outdoors and Nature programme. One of the goals the Trust has set itself is to re-connect children with nature, which benefits physical and mental wellbeing.

Rebuilding the connections between children and nature is also vital to ensuring we can continue...