I visited Petwork House and Park, a National Trust property, in the middle of May when the azaela were in bloom. The houses had just reopened that weekend from lockdown measures, although the whole house is not open just yet. For this reason, this is marked as a lockdown edition since some of the areas were inaccessible due to the current restrictions and should (hopefully) be open as usual in a few more months. This was my first visit to the property. The house dates from the 17th century and was the southern home of the Percy family from Northumberland. There is a deer park with over 700 acres of land that was designed by Capability Brown and views that inspired the painter Turner. The house contains a large collection of artwork (paintings and sculptures), including some by Turner, and a "Pleasure Ground" with a couple of scenic temples.
The property was a gift to the Percy family from the widow of Henry I; the family were based at Alnwick Castle most of the time, so Petworth was a southern retreat for them. The property stayed within the wealthy families for generations until 1947 when it was given to the National Trust along with the paintings and sculptures. Part of Petworth House is occupied by descendants today.
Petworth House is located next to the village by the same name, and it contains a High Street and separate museum. It sprung up along with the estate. I did not visit the village on this visit; it will be left to explore for another day.
Upon entering the parkland to visit the house, I saw a cat and views of the temples and Pleasure Grounds with pretty pink azalea almost in full bloom.
After entering, the first room to visit is the Chapel. It is the oldest room in the house with the rest of the house built around it. It used to be its own separate building with the manor built next to it, but it later (the 1600s) became joined. The chapel dates from about 1300. It is used today for ceremonies.
The North Gallery room contains the largest room in the building for the gallery of paintings and sculptures. It was built specifically for displaying the artwork in the mid-1700s and then expanded upon in the 1800s. Originally, the room was painted white, but it is painted red today.
The Red Room is another room that contains a collection of paintings and was called "Picture Room" in the 1700s. It later contained paintings by Turner and also was decorated by William Morris. A painting of the room by Turner enabled the room to take on its original appearance; it was redecorated in 2002. One of the interesting items in this room is the globe. The terrestrial globe, created by Emery Molyneux, is believed to be the only one that exists and dates from the late 1500s. The continents are not all in the right place or the correct shape; it was built before current maps of the world existed and before the land was further explored to understand other land masses.
The "Carved Room" is the most-detailed room and a beautiful room with carved panelling on the walls. It was two rooms initially, and they were put together to form one room. The room contains a large selection of paintings and other decorative items, and the walls are covered with wooden carving; it is not wallpaper.
The "Marble Hall" was an entrance hall that overlooked the landscape with black and white tiles.
The "Dining Room" shown below contains a selection of paintings. Until lockdown, it also had a dining table that was set up, and I think the dining table would have brought more interest rather than just being a large room; perhaps it was taken away so visitors have more space to move around to avoid each other. I think the room would be better for this to be returned.
The "Somerset Room" was the last room that we could see during the lockdown restrictions. It dates from the 1700s and would have been a servant's area. It contains a large selection of paintings. Again, I think the room would look more interesting with a dining table.
Across from the house are the kitchens and servant's area. We could see part of the kitchens only.
We were shown the ovens and given a description of how they worked; they used to show them working during most of the time, but this has not been possible with the current restrictions. Hopefully they will allow them to work again when larger groups of visitors can come back and re-visit.
After the house tour, I had a quick walk around the lake. I was greeted by several geese.
There are some nice views over the house here, and Turner was inspired by such views.
After the lake visit, I headed back through the Pleasure Grounds.
The azalea were in bloom, and I was also treated to some bluebells just past their prime but still colourful and carpeting pockets of the ground in blue/purple.
There were some nice views of the park land from the Pleasure Grounds.
That covers my visit to Petworth House and Park. I hope to visit again at some point when the restrictions are lifted.
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