Travelogue South England Trip: Parham House and Petworth House

Since it has been a few weeks, let me recap the last few posts I wrote, about our trip to England in late April and early May 2023. I spent the first few days of our trip (after departing Windsor, where we took a nap to combat jet lag and then explored the city) with my daughter at Great Dixter, near Northiam , near Rye, in South England. We also visited Hastings, Sissinghurst and Charleton House while there.

I found this booklet of Vita Sackville-West’s poetry, The Land, while at Dixter. I really enjoyed reading some of her poetry in that setting, with the gardens all around.  It was a real tribute to rural life, penned in an era when that life seemed to be disappearing. 

My last post, Beginnings, talked about the first day, underway. We took an organized tour with Albion Tours, which is now called National Trust Tours. It was a guided tour in a coach (never say bus!) to different large estates in Southern England. The tour was (and is) called South of England Stately Homes & The Isle of Wight.  Our tour went from May 1-10, 2023.  They are advertising now, for the same tour next year, also in early May. 

The first day underway, May 2^nd, we went to Standen and Polesdon Lacey.  Both homes and grounds were lovely, but I had an especial affinity for Standen, since so many William Morris fabrics were on display there. I have an absolute obsession with the patterns of William Morris. 

The whole tour was very well done, as I have mentioned before.  We had a wonderful tour director who was full of very interesting and entertaining anecdotes about the houses, the countryside through which we were passing, and British practices and customs, especially to the extent that they varied from our own.  I wish I could remember all the facts relayed and jokes made, but I am one of those pitiful few who can’t remember a joke to save my life. So, you’ll have to take my word for it.  The tour was very professionally done and we had a very good time.

The second day, May 3^rd, we went to Parham House and Petworth House.  These were indeed very grand.  I remember being essentially overwhelmed by all the artwork at Petworth.  Gallery after gallery, with many iconic images, like the famous painting of King Henry the Eighth. Many copies of this painting (after Holbein, I think) were produced and distributed widely, as a kind of propaganda.  We got to hear a lot of facts about that painting from one of the docents at Petworth. But a copy of the painting was in fact also at Parham.  Unfortunately, the galleries were quite dark at Petworth, so the photography didn’t come out great without flash. Which was, of course, strictly forbidden, everywhere we went. 

First, some pictures from Parham House:

Throughout the house, we were given a tour by one of the many volunteers, who do this every day.  This was true in most of the grand houses we visited.  The number of people, who devote their time and energies to maintaining the grounds, maintaining the house and artwork, giving tours to visitors, and providing fresh flowers, in the case of Parham, daily…it boggles the mind.  And really brings home the point, that there are people who care about British history and preservation, from whom we could learn a few lessons.

Next, we went to Petworth (I want to say Petworth Art Museum, for that is what it felt like.)  I’m afraid I did not even attempt taking photographs, lost as I was, among the hundreds and hundreds of artworks to be observed.  I just surrendered myself to it, and enjoyed the musings of various docents, who added much to the experience. 

I was especially glad, when a docent pointed out to me a William Blake drawing.  William Blake, the poet of “Tyger, Tyger burning bright” fame, from Songs of Experience (1794), has always held a place in my heart.  There were lots of lovely William Turners, which often portrayed ships on the sea or in harbor.  Amazing.  As well as a huge collection of Roman busts and statues (some of ambiguous sex, which, according to one docent’s speculation, may have been assembled incorrectly) These were acquired by one of the ancestors, during a very early and profitable visit, to the site of Pompeii or Herculaneum. 

It’s a bit awkward, to bring up the return of artwork to its place of origin, on this trip.  It is, of course, an ongoing controversy, and one that is by no means resolved.  This trip was more of a celebration of the British Empire that was, than a close scrutiny of those, who did not profit so much, from that Empire.  Naturally, the modern-day British and Scottish people we spoke to on our trip had a very nuanced and ambivalent attitude toward their history, much as we should have, toward our own.  I am now reading Colossus, a book by Niall Ferguson, my favorite historian, which claims that the United States is, and always was, an empire.  Before you fellow Americans get up on your high horses, or wag your finger at the naughty British, you should read it.

Well, that’s enough for now.  Wish I had more concrete evidence of Petworth’s splendor, but again you’ll have to trust me.  All of us were worn out, by the end of that day.  And we were very eager to get a cocktail at the cozy and well-appointed South Lodge Hotel and Spa lounge, before being served a delicious and satisfying dinner, and then, hitting the hay.

Next time we will visit Brighton’s Royal Pavilion!