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Petworth House in the parish of
Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east–west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twe ...
,
West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, is a late 17th-century Grade I listed
country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...
, rebuilt in 1688 by
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset (13 August 16622 December 1748), known by the epithet "The Proud Duke", was an English peer. He rebuilt Petworth House in Sussex, the ancient Percy seat inherited from his wife, in the palatial form which ...
, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect
Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...
. It contains intricate wood-carvings by Grinling Gibbons (d.1721). It is the
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...
of the manor of Petworth. For centuries it was the southern home for the Percy family, Earls of Northumberland. Petworth is famous for its extensive art collection made by the Northumberland and Seymour/Somerset families and George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837), containing many works by his friend
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
. It also has an expansive deer park, landscaped by
Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...
, which contains a large herd of
fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...
.


History


Medieval Manor House

The manor of Petworth first came into the possession of the Percy family as a royal gift from
Adeliza of Louvain Adeliza of Louvain, sometimes known in England as Adelicia of Louvain, also called Adela and Aleidis; (c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135, as the second wife of King Henry I. She was the daughter of Godfrey I, ...
, the widow of King
Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...
(1100-1135), to her brother Joscelin of Louvain. He later married the Percy heiress and adopted the surname Percy. His descendants became the Earls of Northumberland, the most powerful family in northern England. The Percy family, whose primary seat was at
Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...
in Northumberland, bordering Scotland, intended Petworth to be for their occasional residence only. The site was previously occupied by a fortified manor house built by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy (1273–1314) in 1308–9, the chapel and undercroft of which still survive as part of the current house. However, in the 16th century, the Percy family came into conflict with the crown as the staunchly Catholic family fell foul of the
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
which resulted in Petworth being briefly taken from them by Henry VIII, restored to them by Queen
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
before the wider family came under scrutiny during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
. Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland allied the family to
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
and led the 1569 Rising of the North against the Queen with the aim of deposing her and placing Mary on the throne - this failed and led to his execution for treason in 1572. His younger brother, Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, would regain his title from the Queen after begging her mercy and was granted his freedom on the condition that the family be confined to Petworth where they could be observed by the court. The house at Petworth was therefore transformed and expanded to become the permanent home of the family with grand stables erected and a pleasure garden laid out at this time. A part of this era manor house, a 'Lost' North wing, was discovered during archaeological excavations in 2012-15 under the lawn at the front of the house having been demolished in 1692.


Baroque House

In 1670 Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland (1644-1670) died without a male heir, and thus his considerable fortune and estates of Petworth House, Alnwick Castle,
Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence h ...
and Northumberland House were inherited by his 2-year-old daughter and sole-heiress, Lady Elizabeth Percy (1667-1722). In 1682, at the age of 16 and already twice widowed, she married the 20 year old
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset (13 August 16622 December 1748), known by the epithet "The Proud Duke", was an English peer. He rebuilt Petworth House in Sussex, the ancient Percy seat inherited from his wife, in the palatial form which ...
(1662-1748), whose family seat was Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire. They became one of the wealthiest couples in England. It was the 6th Duke, nicknamed 'the Proud Duke', and the Duchess who rebuilt the house between 1688 and 1702 in the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
style that favoured order and symmetry. It was very much inspired by the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
and aimed to establish Petworth as a rival to these European palaces. The grounds and wider parkland were also managed at this time with the parkland being home to quarries and proving an industrial and working landscape supporting the building works and the house. Around the house were planted more formal gardens including an avenue of lime trees approaching the house, a canal gardens and fishponds,
parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...
, great greenhouse and
Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...
. Completing the formal gardens was a Quarter Piece Lawn and Rampart terraces comprising a series of walks carved into the hill and accompanies by carved seats, stairs and statues.


Split Inheritance challenges and Capability Brown

Since 1750 the house and estate have been owned by the prominent Wyndham family, descended from
Sir Charles Wyndham, 4th Baronet Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, PC (19 August 171021 August 1763), of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, Petworth House in Sussex, and of Egremont House in Mayfair, London, was a British statesman who served as Secretary of State for the S ...
(1710-1763) of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, a nephew and co-heir of Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (1684-1750). As part of the inheritance and splitting-up of the great Percy inheritance, which had been a source of contention between the 7th Duke and his father the 6th Duke, in 1749Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.1037, ''Duke of Somerset'' after the death of the 6th Duke, King George II granted the 7th Duke four extra titles in the
peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...
, including
Baron Cockermouth Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
and Earl of Egremont, which latter two were created with special remainder to Sir Charles Wyndham, the intended and actual recipient of Petworth,
Cockermouth Castle Cockermouth Castle () is in the town of Cockermouth in Cumbria on a site by the junction of the Rivers Cocker and Derwent. It is a grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. History The first castle on this site was built by the ...
and
Egremont Castle Egremont Castle is located in the town of Egremont, Cumbria (). History The original castle was built on a mound above the River Ehen on the site of a Danish fort following the conquest of Cumberland in 1092 by William II of England. The prese ...
. Following the 7th Duke's death in 1750, his lands and titles were split between his daughter, Lady Elizabeth Seymour and her husband
Sir Hugh Smithson, 4th Baronet Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, (c. 17146 June 1786), was an English peer, landowner, and art patron. Origins He was born Hugh Smithson, the son of Lansdale Smithson (b. 1682) of Langdale and Philadelphia Revely. He was a grandson of ...
(d.1786), and Charles Wyndham through the 7th Duke's deceased brother-in-law Sir William Wyndham. The former inherited the northern Percy estates, including Alnwick Castle and Syon House, together with the titles Baron Warkworth of
Warkworth Castle Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Warkworth in the English county of Northumberland. The village and castle occupy a loop of the River Coquet, less than a mile from England's north-east coast. When the castle was founded is unc ...
and Earl of Northumberland and whose descendants are the current Dukes of Northumberland based at Alnwick Castle. The latter inherited Petworth and some estates in Sussex, Cumbria and Yorkshire as
Earls of Egremont Earl of Egremont was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749, along with the subsidiary title Baron of Cockermouth, in Cumberland, for Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, with remainder to his nephews Sir Charles W ...
. The 2nd Earl was responsible for the collections of
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
mirrors and antique statues that exist in the house today and was responsible for commissioning Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to landscape the parkland during the 1750s and 1760s. The works involved the demolition of the formal gardens that preceded it, the landscaping of the wider parkland to raise the profile of the lawn in front of the house, infill quarries, smooth over the terraced walks and digging out buildings in the parkland down to foundation level. Archaeological investigations seemed to suggest that the turf was removed prior to the levelling works so they could be replaced after the works were completed and aiding the current natural look to the landscape.


House of Art

It was the 3rd Earl of Egremont, George O'Brien Wyndham (1751-1837) who solidified the house's reputation as one of fine art. He inherited the house in 1763 and began what has been termed a 'Golden Age' of Petworth when he expanded his collection of contemporary art and expanded and changed the house in order to display it best, in particular through the addition of the North Gallery in 1824–5. He was patron to many contemporary artists including
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
and
John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, th ...
who were frequent guests to the house and painted the house and its parkland frequently - this has more recently helped inform restorations to the house and parkland. The 3rd Earl bequeathed Petworth and Cockermouth Castle to his illegitimate son and adopted heir Col. George Wyndham (1787-1869), but who could not inherit the title of Earl of Egremont so was instead created
Baron Leconfield Baron Leconfield, of Leconfield in the East Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1859 for Col. George Wyndham (1787–1869). He was the eldest illegitimate son and adopted heir of Ge ...
by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
in 1859. The title of Earl of Egremont instead passed to his nephew George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786-1845) who, while not inheriting Petworth, instead received the (not inconsiderable)
entail In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...
ed Wyndham estates including Orchard Wyndham, still owned today by the Wyndham family. He attempted to make up for the loss of Petworth by building his own stately home in Devon called Silverton Park, which was widely deemed hideous and was demolished in 1901.


Open to public: National Trust

The house and deer park were handed over to the nation in 1947 by Edward Wyndham, 5th Baron Leconfield (1883-1967) and are now managed by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
under the name Petworth House & Park. The Leconfield Estates would continue to own much of Petworth and the surrounding area and the family would be able to continue living in part of Petworth House. It was
John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...
, 6th Baron Leconfield and since 1963 also 1st Baron Egremont, who negotiated the gift of the contents of the house, in particular the paintings and sculptures, into the property of the National Trust in lieu of accumulated death duties. The current Lord and Lady Egremont continue a tradition of unbroken occupancy at Petworth House today with Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont and his family living in the south wing, allowing much of the remainder of the House to be open to the public. Lady Egremont has restored the gardens. In its 2018/2019 Annual Report, the Trust reported that Petworth House received 178,760 visitors. In its 2022 Annual Report, the Trust reported that Petworth House received 147,079 visitors in 2021-22, having had a dip in numbers to 88,600 due to the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020-21. Today's building houses an important collection of paintings and sculptures, including 19 oil paintings by
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
(some owned by the family, some by
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
), who was a regular visitor to Petworth, paintings by
Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...
, carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Ben Harms, classical and neoclassical sculptures (including ones by
John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...
and John Edward Carew), and wall and ceiling paintings by
Louis Laguerre Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter mainly working in England. Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Anto ...
. There is also a terrestrial
globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...
by
Emery Molyneux Emery Molyneux ( ; died June 1598) was an English Elizabethan maker of globes, mathematical instruments and ordnance. His terrestrial and celestial globes, first published in 1592, were the first to be made in England and the first to be made by ...
, believed to be the only one in the world in its original 1592 state.


Petworth Park

The 283-hectare (700-acre) landscaped park, known as Petworth Park, contains a large herd of fallow. It is one of the more famous in England, largely on account of a number of pictures of it which were painted by Turner. There is also a
woodland garden A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shr ...
, known as the Pleasure Ground and some unusual
Ha-ha A ha-ha (french: hâ-hâ or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view ...
s. The landscaped park and pleasure grounds of Petworth are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Petworth House is home to the Petworth House Real Tennis Club (many such private estates held
real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
courts).
Petworth Park Petworth Park at Petworth, Sussex was used as the venue for three first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of thr ...
is also a cricket venue, for the refounded Petworth Park Cricket Club.


Surrounding area

As was usual for a mediaeval manor house, it was built in its original form next to the parish church (to provide the
lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
with enhanced spiritual benefits), around which developed a village, now grown to a sizeable town. Such position is unusual for a country mansion of its size and date, which were frequently later re-built on new more private sites away from the original manor house, or the church and village were on occasion demolished to provide the desired privacy. Petworth House and Park are thus today situated immediately adjacent to the town of Petworth, with its shops and restaurants. As an insight into the lives of past estate workers the Petworth Cottage Museum has been established in High Street, Petworth, furnished as it would have been in about 1910.


Visitor facilities

Since being opened to the public, the house has attracted a significant number of visitors each year to see the art collections, explore the parkland and pleasure grounds. As such, the National Trust opened and run a number of facilities for visitors at the site. The trust run two car parks for visitors, a main car park ideally placed for the house and pleasure gardens and a more northern car park for the wider deer park. With the exception of a visitor reception near to the main car park and a food and beverage kiosk in the old fire station, the visitor amenities are all located within the old service block for the house. This service wing contains the site shop, a second-hand bookshop, a cafe in the old Audit Room (which opened originally as a sculpture gallery before being used as a hall for large gatherings of the estate staff and servants), toilets and a seasonal art gallery. The service wing also contains a few of the historic kitchen rooms preserved for the public to view. In addition to publishing a general visitor guidebook, the trust also publishes an in-depth guide to the different art pieces within the house and detailing in more detail the family history associated with the collection. They also have a virtual guide for visitors in addition to the volunteer room stewards present around the house. They also announced in 2021 the opening of a second shop within the house selling books related to the art works in the house and art supplies.


Filming location

Petworth House has been used extensively as a location for film and TV productions. Included in the credits are Barry Lyndon (1975), Silver Bears (1977), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Maleficent (2014), Mr Turner (2014), Rebecca (2020), Bridgerton (2022). A major production filmed at Petworth in March 2022.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links


Historical Images of Petworth House Petworth House entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country HousesPetworth House & Park information at the National TrustImages of oil paintings in Petworth House collectionList of paintings on view
{{Authority control Gardens in West Sussex Country houses in West Sussex National Trust properties in West Sussex Museums in West Sussex Historic house museums in West Sussex Art museums and galleries in West Sussex English gardens in English Landscape Garden style J. M. W. Turner Wyndham family residences Percy family residences Gardens by Capability Brown Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex Grade II* listed buildings in West Sussex Grade I listed parks and gardens in West Sussex Grade I listed houses Grade I listed museum buildings Petworth Real tennis venues