Petworth House, West Sussex, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

A 16th- and 17th-century park and ornamental pleasure grounds, both extensively landscaped by Lancelot Brown in the mid-18th century, with further ornamentation and significant planting carried out during the 19th century and with largely 19th-century garden features immediately around the house.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Petworth House lies immediately adjacent to the north-west edge of Petworth, between the main A283 road running north to Godalming and the A272 westwards to Midhurst. The 294-hectare registered site comprises about 18 hectares of ornamental and kitchen gardens and 276 hectares of parkland and occupies the floor and sides of a broad valley which winds northwards between steep slopes which rise to a high ridge along the north-west boundary and a high promontory which projects north-westwards into the centre of the park. The north end of the promontory (Arbour Hill) descends in a steep slope to a broad plain which is enclosed by the ridge to the west and by further rising ground on the northern boundary. The park is entirely enclosed by a high wall, some 8km in length, most of which was probably built from 1756-63 (guidebook; the lengths along the A272 from the south-east corner of the site west to New Lodges, and northwards on the A283 from the House to Hampers Common Lodges, are listed grade II). Roads abut the park walls on all boundaries except that to the north-west and in the south-east corner where estate and town buildings including the church, intervene. The park is surrounded by an undulating landscape of wooded farmland and enjoys extensive views to the South Downs to the south-west.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

J C Loudon, An Encyclopaedia of Gardening ... (1822), p 1230

Country Life, 58 (28 November 1925), pp 818-26; (5 December 1925), pp 862-71; 153 (28 June 1973), pp 1870-4

I Nairn and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex (1965), pp 301-7

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 68-9, pl 9

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979)

Petworth Park, guidebook, (National Trust 1985)

Petworth Park and Grounds, Historical Survey..., (National Trust 1988)

Petworth, Storm Damage 1990, Grant Aid Application to English Heritage, (National Trust 1990)

Petworth: Grant Aid application to EH, (National Trust 1991)
Petworth Park, (National Trust leaflet 1994)

Maps [All held in the Petworth House Archive.]

Ralph Treswell, survey dated 1610 (PHA 3574)

John Hutchinson, Lands of the Duke of Somerset between Petworth and Tillington ..., 1706 (PHA 3580)

John Hutchinson, A Plan of Part of the Ground on the North Side of the Vistoe ... Petworth, 1706 (PHA 3580)

Anon, An Ocular Draught of the Home Park ..., 1749

Anon A map of the Gardens and Park at Petworth, 1751

Lancelot Brown, design for Petworth park, 1752 (PHA 3588)

Crow, Survey of Petworth, 1779

H Thomas Upton, Plan of Petworth Parks, Paddocks &c, 1869

OS Maps

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1874-5, published 1880; 2nd edition published 1898; 3rd edition published 1913

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1875; 3rd edition surveyed 1910

Illustrations

View of the old house and stables, attributed to J Knyff (in Harris 1979)

Archival items

The Petworth House Archive (PHA), which covers the full history of the estate to the present day, is held in a private collection. Brown's contracts are mostly catalogued under PHA 6623.
 

Description written: February 1998

Amended: January 2000

Edited: June 2000