Will the real Petworth please stand up…

I’m happy to introduce a new contributor to PoP, hipchickindc.

A few days ago someone mentioned the original Petworth in a comment. I thought it might be fun to take a little virtual tour of Ye Olde Petworth, the one that exists, and has existed for a really long time, back in West Sussex, England. Before I go on, I apologize for the quality of the pics. These are vintage 80’s, mostly taken in the rain, with a film camera that I didn’t know how to use so well.

I actually came across the English Petworth before I ever knew about the DC Petworth, so when I first discovered DC Petworth, it was somewhat of a novelty. My parents have family friends that live in Petworth, England, and I went to visit them when I was traveling in 1986.

Petworth is both the name of a grand manor house (think Merchant and Ivory films), as well the small village that surrounds it. The original manor house and town were built in the 13^th century. As one who particularly appreciates the history and hundred year old architecture of DC, the concept of buildings so many times older is staggering.

Story continues after the jump.

The current manor house, known as Petworth House, was built in the late 17^th century. A chapel and undercroft are all that remain of the 13^th century buildings that were part of the estate. Petworth House is best known for having provided inspiration to the painter, J.M.W. Turner, and for having been landscaped by Capability Brown.

The 700 acre park is managed by the National Trust and is home to a large herd of deer and other wildlife. The following are drawings I made of the park.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our brief virtual visit. If you’d like to see more, there are quite a few good shots of Petworth and Petworth House to be found on flickr.com.
If anybody wants to read the story of how I got to Petworth (England not DC), it’s here: http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=10525.

Best wishes, hipchickindc