About
Killerton House is one of Devon's most beloved National Trust properties, an elegant 18th-century country house set within a magnificent 6,400-acre estate on the slopes of Killerton Clump, a volcanic outcrop offering sweeping views across the Exe Valley. The Acland family's home for over 300 years, the house combines intimate domestic charm with one of the most important costume collections in the United Kingdom.
The house itself is deceptively modest from the outside — Sir Thomas Acland intended it as a temporary residence while a grander house was planned, but the family grew so comfortable that the permanent replacement was never built. This gives Killerton an unusually approachable, lived-in quality compared to many National Trust showpieces. The interior rooms are furnished to reflect different periods of the Acland family's occupation, from the elegant Georgian music room through the Victorian morning room to early 20th-century domestic arrangements that reveal how country house life adapted to changing times.
Killerton's greatest treasure is the Paulise de Bush costume collection, displayed in regularly changing exhibitions throughout the house. This extraordinary collection of over 8,000 items spans four centuries of fashion history, from exquisite 18th-century court dress and Regency gowns through Victorian crinolines and Edwardian elegance to 20th-century haute couture. The collection was assembled by Paulise de Bush, who began acquiring historic costumes in the 1960s and donated them to the National Trust. Each year, different selections are displayed in the house's period rooms, creating a dialogue between costume history and domestic setting that brings both collections to life.
The surrounding gardens and parkland are equally compelling. The hillside garden, created in the 1770s and developed through the Victorian era, is renowned for its rare trees and shrubs, including champion specimens of tulip trees, cork oaks, and Japanese maples. Spring brings spectacular displays of rhododendrons, camellias, and magnolias on the volcanic slopes. The wider estate encompasses ancient woodland, farmland, and the medieval chapel of Columbjohn, while the walled garden has been restored to productive cultivation. Walking trails through the estate offer peaceful communion with the Devon countryside that the Acland family cherished and protected for generations.
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Annual Visitors (2019)
250,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Spring (April-May) for spectacular garden displays of rhododendrons and camellias. Visit on weekday mornings for quieter exploration of the house and costume exhibitions.
💡 Visitor Tips
- Allow a full day to do Killerton justice — the house, costume exhibitions, garden, and estate walks easily fill 4-5 hours. Many visitors underestimate the scale of the estate and wish they had more time.
- The costume exhibitions change regularly, so check the website for current displays. Fashion enthusiasts should aim for exhibition launch periods when fresh selections from the 8,000-item collection are first presented.
- Spring (April-May) is the best time for the garden, when rhododendrons, camellias, and magnolias create spectacular hillside colour. Autumn offers beautiful tree colours and is generally quieter than spring and summer.
- Wear comfortable walking shoes — the hillside garden involves slopes, and the estate walks traverse varied terrain. The garden can be muddy in wet weather.
- Free for National Trust members. Non-members should book online in advance for best prices. Family tickets offer good value.
- The Killerton Kitchen café serves excellent food using estate-grown produce. Alternatively, bring a picnic — there are beautiful picnic spots throughout the parkland.
- Photography is allowed in the house but without flash, to protect the costume collection. The garden offers superb photographic opportunities in all seasons.
- Combine with a visit to Exeter (10 miles) for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter Cathedral, and the historic Quayside.
Highlights
The Paulise de Bush Costume Collection
One of the most important costume collections in the United Kingdom, comprising over 8,000 items spanning four centuries of fashion history. Assembled by collector Paulise de Bush from the 1960s and donated to the National Trust, the collection ranges from exquisite 18th-century court dress and embroidered waistcoats through Regency muslin gowns and Victorian crinolines to Edwardian tea dresses and 20th-century haute couture.
Different selections are displayed in the house's period rooms each year, creating changing exhibitions that place historic fashion in authentic domestic settings.
The quality and breadth of the collection rivals national museums, making Killerton a destination for fashion historians, textile enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by how clothing reflects social change.
The House Interior and Period Rooms
Killerton's rooms offer an unusually intimate glimpse of country house life across several generations. The elegant Georgian music room, with its fine plasterwork and period furniture, evokes the refined social life of the 18th-century gentry. The Victorian morning room shows how domestic comfort evolved through the 19th century.
The library preserves the intellectual interests of a family deeply engaged in local affairs, politics, and agriculture. The laundry, kitchen, and servants' quarters reveal the domestic machinery that sustained country house life. Because Killerton was always considered temporary by the Acland family, it retains a comfortable, lived-in quality that makes it more relatable than many grander National Trust properties.
The Hillside Garden
Killerton's garden is one of Devon's horticultural treasures, created on the slopes of a volcanic outcrop from the 1770s and enriched through the Victorian plant-hunting era. Champion specimens of tulip trees, cork oaks, Japanese maples, and rare conifers create a magnificent arboretum effect. Spring is spectacular, with sweeping displays of rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas, and magnolias carpeting the hillside in colour.
Summer brings herbaceous borders and rose gardens, while autumn transforms the tree canopy into a blaze of reds and golds. The garden's volcanic soil and sheltered south-facing slopes create a microclimate supporting species that struggle elsewhere in Britain, making it a pilgrimage site for keen gardeners and plant enthusiasts.
The Acland Family Story
The Acland family's connection to Killerton and Devon spans over 800 years, making them one of England's most enduring landed families. The house's interpretation weaves their story through the rooms — from 18th-century landowners who built the house through Victorian reformers who championed agricultural innovation to 20th-century conservationists who gave the estate to the National Trust.
Sir Richard Acland's radical decision in 1944 to donate the entire 6,400-acre estate reflected his socialist convictions and belief that great estates should belong to the nation.
Personal items, photographs, letters, and family stories humanise this long dynastic narrative and demonstrate how one family's evolving values reflected wider social change across three centuries.
Collections
Killerton's collections centre on the nationally important Paulise de Bush costume collection of over 8,000 items spanning the 18th to 20th centuries, including court dress, everyday wear, accessories, and haute couture. The house contains period furniture, paintings, and decorative arts accumulated by the Acland family across three centuries.
The garden holds a significant collection of rare and champion trees, including specimens introduced during the great age of Victorian plant hunting.
The estate archive preserves documents, photographs, and records relating to the Acland family's long stewardship of this Devon landscape.
Fashion at Killerton
Changing displays from the Paulise de Bush costume collection, one of the UK's largest fashion collections. Each year, different themes and selections are presented in the house's period rooms, placing historic garments in authentic domestic settings. Recent exhibitions have explored themes including fashion and nature, wartime clothing, and the evolution of underwear.
The juxtaposition of historic costume with period interiors creates a uniquely atmospheric fashion exhibition experience.
📍 Throughout the House
The Acland Family and Killerton
Rooms furnished and interpreted to tell the story of the Acland family's centuries-long connection to Killerton and Devon. Personal items, photographs, and family stories reveal how country house life evolved from Georgian elegance through Victorian reform to 20th-century social change. The displays culminate in Sir Richard Acland's donation of the estate to the National Trust in 1944.
📍 House Rooms
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.