Petworth House

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A vast 17th century manor house, Petworth, West Sussex, has been resided in by the Lord and Lady Egremont for a long time. In the 1820s, 3rd Earl of Egremont had admired and highly valued Turner’s paintings, and asked him to paint pictures which would be suitable for his mansion. He completed several masterpieces such as “The Red Room”, or “Petworth Park at Sunset”. In addition to Turner’s masterpieces, there are scores of great landscape paintings and portraits by Van Dyck, Reynolds, Blake, and Gainsborough, superb marble statues, cabinets with oriental landscapes, Greek sculptures, and intricate wooden carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Jonathan Lisbon displayed in the principal rooms on the ground floor. It is also worth looking at Baroque paintings on the staircase and ceilings, and Victorian kitchen where dozens of great dishes were prepared in the past.

Lord and Lady Egremont live in the house, therefore rooms on the 1st and 2nd floor are opened during the weekends only.

Don’t miss out exploring the 700 acre of landscape garden including the deer park, which was designed by Lancellot Capability Brown. You will see the serpentine pond, wood, Greek temples and statues, which appear on one of Turner’s paintings. There are a wide variety of shrubs, trees, and conifers grown. In spring, the carpets of snowdrops, daffodils, and bluebells appear on the ground, and between late spring and summer, riots of rhododendrons and hydrangeas decorating the lush parkland. Walkers can enjoy the views of Sussex Hill and façade of the manor house from the top of the hill and along the pond.

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