The Covid Diaries 10: Petworth House

A review of Petworth House in West Sussex. In which I get a little bit sunburned in the name of enjoying a splendid stately home and deer park.

Petworth House, the ‘English Versailles’

Petworth House has variously been a medieval great house, Tudor manor house, and the ‘English Versailles’ (bit of a stretch). It’s also home to about the best art collection in the care of the National Trust. One of many homes owned by the Percy family, it became their principal residence after they were banished by Elizabeth I to southern England in case they got too friendly with Mary, Queen of Scots. It was at this point that the house was significantly expanded. Over time it has been home to Earls of Northumberland, Dukes of Somerset; it is still a family home for Lord and Lady Egremont.

I decided to go to Petworth for two principal reasons. Firstly because this is one of seven houses where the National Trust are piloting reopening with social distancing and I was interested to see how they were getting on. And secondly to see the marvelous art collection. I was not disappointed on either count.

The National Trust’s Covid Safe Pilot

So, a note on their coronavirus measures first of all. I haven’t been to Petworth before so can’t compare like for like, but I was impressed with their organisation. They seemed to have reduced entry points, and require pre-booking to manage visitor numbers. They have very friendly staff who guide visitors through what to expect, and like on my recent trip to Avebury, are probably significantly down on revenue by limiting food and shopping options. (I still managed to have a very nice black coconut icecream however, which you can see on my Instagram.)

I can see why the National Trust chose this property as part of their pilot. The layout of the house makes it relatively easy to create a one-way route with only minor changes to entry and exit points. And the spaces inside are fairly large so it’s easy to keep your distance. The guides inside were very knowledgeable and seemed happy to have visitors back to share stories with, so I learned a lot about the collection as I went through.

And What an Art Collection!

Several inhabitants of Petworth were serious art collectors and the collection has been handed down largely intact. This means it can be seen more or less (or in some cases exactly) as intended. Petworth even has its own private art gallery, in which densely-hung paintings (think Turner, Blake, Reynolds, van Dyck) are complemented by a collection of classical sculptures. How civilised it must have been to have all of that for the benefit of your family and guests. One of the Earls of Egremont was a major patron of Turner’s, so there are about 20 of his works. This includes some he painted while staying at Petworth (and a less successful foray into portrait-painting, ouch…).

Even outside of the private gallery, the walls are bristling with paintings. There are also interesting features like heavily decorated sculpted wood panelling. The fairly stable history of the house – remaining in the hands of branches of one family – means that a lot of original features have remained intact. Care has been taken to restore many rooms to their original appearance, following contemporary sketches.

Final Thoughts

So all in all, Petworth makes for a very tranquil, inspiring day out. Like Blenheim Palace, there’s nothing particularly challenging or thought-provoking about it. But it was lovely to see all those paintings in situ, sit for a few hours in the summer sun with the wide expanses of the park before me, and also poke around the very sweet (and obviously very wealthy) village of Petworth. The National Trust make it a smooth experience, so I would recommend for anyone within easy reach.

On its own merits: 3.5/5
Implementing Covid rules: 4/5