bateman's

This was where Rudyard Kipling and his family lived . It is a very interesting place to visit and the staff are very knowledgeable . Even though he was an accomplished author , the whole aura of the place was made to show the family side of mr Kipling as well as a lot of interesting facts about his life I did not know , the house and gardens are well worth a visit , although maybe if you want to see more of the floral side of the garden it would be better to go late spring / early summer . There are lovely clean toilet areas and a lovely tea room serving meals and refreshments at reasonable prices, it is a national trust property and is free to members but I paid 9-50 to get in which I thought was reasonable in regards to entrance prices elsewhere , my only criticism was the national trust pricing schedule ie standard price 9-50 gift aid price 10-50 , I always thought if you were a tax payer as I am , gift aid was taken for any price so therefore you should not have to pay a pound extra to pay the gift aid, so I am afraid they didn't get my gift aid as I only paid 9-50 , as a pensioner my budget had to be considered . All in all though it was a pleasant day and I thoroughly enjoyed it

We were recommended to visit by our B and B hosts and were extremely happy we took their advice. Lovely gardens which must be beautiful in the spring and summer. The house was so interesting and the exhibition about Kiplings son, lost in the First World War, was extraordinarily moving. I bought two books in the shop and feel compelled to now read Kipling.A great tourist attraction, well maintained and inexpensive.

As a "fan" of Rudyard Kipling I found the house and its contents particularly interesting. The grounds were beautiful, with plenty of daffodils and snowdrops. The rose garden will, I'm sure, look great in season. The extra good news is that dogs are now allowed in most of the grounds (on short leads)

Magnificent house. Stunning grounds. The staff are very welcoming friendly and full of knowledge. The tea room was very pleasant and as for the Victoria sponge ....... Delightful!Shall definitely be going back specially now I am a member of the national trust. Highly recommend.

Visited on a cold, sunny February day. There were few bulbs out in the garden, but there will be much more colour in the summer. There is plenty parking and there is a cafe on site. As already mentioned, there is a well put together display in the house about WW1, which all NT properties seem to be doing. The display at Scotney was more interesting. The flour mill is seeking £150,000 funding to be repaired and it is not clear if there is to be no more milling until the cash is raised. The paths around the garden are crazy-paved (uneven in places) and maybe difficult for those with more limited mobility. A pleasant day out.

We picked Batemans as it was between us and a friend so a convienent location to meet. Being Feb not much was happening in the gardens but it appeared a lot of bulbs had been planted and there was a good sized vegetable / kitchen garden that could be worth seeing later in the year. There were some chickens prowling the gardens but although we looked to go for one of the extended walks around the area it was far too muddy to step off the concreted paths (apparently much of the garden and surrounding areas had flooded recently.The house was quiet and we enjoyed walking round with very keen, informative volunteers. There was a World War 1 display upstairs with a Daniel Radcliffe tie in from the TV Film "My Boy Jack" and of course the House "exit's through the gift shop" which was everything you would expect from a National trust gift shop.The Tea room / resturant was particularly good, It felt like they had really thought about the hot foods they offered, and I went for a Vegetable Tagine, which came with a massive Doorstop sized piece of bread. Despite the rest of the property being quiet at lunch time the tea room was fullOverall a great visit and a lovely property, however although I suspect in the Summer peak it could get very busy.

Amazing. Well worth visiting. Beautiful, interesting house and gardens and loads inside to see - all original.

A beautiful house in a beautiful setting. Lovely to see the home of the author of Jungle Book. Stunning house and beautiful grounds and a lovely little tea room and shop but not a great deal to do to keep little ones entertained for long when the weather isn't good enough to linger in the grounds.

We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed our tour around the property and grounds. I've visited before, and loved the new exhibit upstairs along with the opening of the kitchen. Terrific!We were a group of 15 students, one leader and one coach driver. We took our lunch at the cafe and I was impressed with the quality of food and the ability to accommodate all of us in a timely fashion. The staff was warm and friendly, too. Personally, I thought the lentil soup with coconut was amazing.

Visiting on a sunny mid-day in February, found a great deal of detail in the displays about Kiplings son going to war. Kipling's study was full of interesting things but you could only see from a distance. On a personal note , I would rather the volunteers would not try to engage you as you came in , but were there to answer questions if asked , but you can understand their enthusiasm. Walked down to the mill which isn't working any more , waiting for expensive repairs for which there are fundraising buckets. There is a PC screen in the mill , presumably showing the mill working, or the hydro power generator details , but it wasn't turned on - this was a shame...Had lunch which was the soup and sausage and mash. Soup and bread were good , but the soup was a bit spicey which my wife found unexpected and said perhaps it should have been described as such on the menu. The sausage and mash were good and hot, price of which was pretty comparable to what you would get in a pub in the area, so no complaints. As with all National Trust properties like this , it's not worth not being a member, since £22.00 for admission for two is high.

On a dark and wet day, we plumped for.Batemans. A couple of the rooms were having their annual clean. It was facinating to see how this was done and get more insight from the people involved. The rest of the rooms were fully open, so you could walk round and get a good feel for this lovely home. Although the light was not good, it was explained that too much could damage Kipling's original furniture and artefacts, but the shutters and some blinds would be opened as the busy season arrives. The volunteers were able to pass on their extensive knowledge of the house and family. The home made soup was lovely, although a little expensive. We look forward to returning to enjoy the gardens in the summer.

It was a lovely building with some interesting features. But unfortunately you cannot see them, even the volunteers needed to use a torch to show some things in the cabinets (which were stuffed full of 'stuff'). On the topic of volunteers there were far too many - 4 in one room!The study was the main piece but unfortunately you could only look from the other side of the room at it.The gardens were beautifully presented and must be great in the summer. Nice visit but wouldn't bother going again tho.

Staying nearby at Battle this was the perfect indoor activity on a cold day. The house and extensive and well tended gardens will be wonderful in spring and summer too but it seems a winter trip also misses the crowds. So we thoroughly enjoyed a gentle passage from room to room learning new things about both the Kipling family and the beautiful building too (though more written room by room information could be provided on both). The WWI exhibition and its poignant relevance to the family were covered extremely well. You do need to go upstairs to fully enjoy the property but if you can't make this there is a virtual tour on screen.

Thought we would visit Batemans home of Rudyard Kipling....House was lovely outside but inside it was very dark indeed! Obviously Rudyard liked it! Not very interesting and couldnt get ner anything as it all seemed to be roped off!!! Whata shame! We walked round the gardens but they were very uninteresting maybe in the spring/summer they would better. The phrase of "been there done that" comes to mind with this attraction.

I'm glad I visited but I'm not drawn to go there again. I've been to much more beautiful and interesting national trust locations - scotney castle being an example of one nearby that I'd recommend. Bateman's was interesting but I would've liked more information about Kipling as it wasn't presented very well. The house was drab and gloomy inside. The staff inside the house, (although there was far too many of them so you felt you couldn't look around in peace), were friendly and knowledgeable. The gardens were unimpressive but I guess I can put that down to going in January. I had expected to enjoy this more than I had. The cafe was awful. Slow service, expensive and my cold cheese on toast (which didn't have the flavour of the advertised Welsh rarebit) was was horrible. The cakes looked nice though.