Knebworth House: The Awards Keep Coming!

Knebworth House struck gold at the RSVP Awards 2007 winning The Most Creative Use of a Cultural or Historic Venue on Friday 29th June at Fulham Palace.  This prestigious award was collected by Knebworth Sales Manager, Katy Foxall and the divisional director John Cahill.

Judged by peers within the creative events industry, The RSVP awards recognise the most unique and creative events talent in the industry.  The Award was open to all museums, galleries, stately homes or venues of significant cultural importance. Entrants had to show two examples of how the space had been transformed into different creative event environments. Judges were looking for innovation, logistical planning, venue support and client endorsement.

On winning the award, Martha Lytton Cobbold of Knebworth House comments,
"We are delighted to have won this prestigious award, which further confirms Knebworth House as the premier historic venue for delivering creative events.  It is a truly fabulous venue, flexible, professional and diverse.  Knebworth has been home to the Lytton family for over 500 years, and offers it's hospitality through the historic Tudor House, the 16th century Tithe Barns conference centre, 28 acres of formal gardens, and 250 acres of parkland.  With direct access off of the A1M, it is the ideal venue with something for everyone."

The RSVP awards ceremony was hosted by Fulham Palace which was owned by the Bishops of London for over 1300 years and stands in its own beautiful grounds, Bishop's Park, with over 13 acres of gardens, just west and north of Putney Bridge. 

Hedgestock at Knebworth House

Knebworth House demonstrated itself to be a fantastic venue for creative events, when it transformed itself to host the hedge fund industry annual conference, Hedgestock, on 7-8 June 2006, headlined with a charity concert led by legendary rock band The Who.  Hedgestock was created and produced by Albourne Partners Ltd, the world's largest hedge fund advisory firm, and was supported by ten leading investment banks.

To create Hedgestock, Knebworth House's 250 acre gardens were re-imagined into the illusion of Woodstock, the famous love and music event that took place in the USA in the 1960s. The event included flower-power vans and beach huts for meeting rooms, while prime brokers including Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and UBS sponsored tents. 3,000 people took advantage of the love-in and all profits were donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Christmas Nightmare at Knebworth House

Another superb example of a creative event at Knebworth House was Tesco's Christmas Nightmare party which took place on the 12th December 2006.  Tesco wanted a non-traditional Christmas party and decided on a horror theme. Knebworth House was chosen because the gothic nature of the venue's exterior would help create a truly ghoulish atmosphere for the event. The Knebworth Barns were transformed into a ghostly mansion, complete with graveyard, church bells, hellfire, figures from the occult and the undead!

As they arrived, guests were met by Grim Reepers and fire-twirling zombies. The ghoulish special effects and costumed figures were in abundance inside, where vampires, withes, skeletons and even more zombies awaited guests. As the evening progressed, dance performances by the zombies with their angle grinders, body painted girls and mummies to such hits as Michael Jackson's Thriller, amazed guests.

Knebworth House

Mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1085, Knebworth House has a long and fascinating history. The property's Jacobean Banqueting Hall, one of the most beautiful rooms in the country, has played host to guests from Queen Elizabeth I to Queen Elizabeth II.

There are few more romantic or atmospheric places in the British Isles to hold an event than at Knebworth House, with its striking exterior of turrets, domes and gargoyles and 250 acres of parkland. The venue is able to accommodate all manner of events both public and corporate, from classic dinners, parties, drinks receptions, conferences or outdoor events for up to 40, 000.

As much as 12% of the revenue from events goes back into the maintenance of the house and the estate. It costs approx. £250,000 to run the house and gardens each year and there is also an ambitious restoration project underway. Five of ten phases of restoration have been completed and the remaining phases are estimated to cost over £10 million.