Penshurst Place
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Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, 32 miles (51.5 km) south east of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete examples of fourteenth century domestic architecture in England surviving in its original location. The house and its gardens are open for public viewing.
History
The ancient village of PenshurstPenshurst
Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...
was situated within the manor of that name: the manor appears as Penecestre or Penchester, a name adopted by Stephen de Penecestre
Stephen de Pencester
Stephen de Pencester was Warden of the Cinque Ports when the first authoritative list of Cinque Ports Confederation Members was produced in 1293....
, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the southeast coast of England...
, who possessed the manor towards the end of the 13th century.
The present mansion was built in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four-times Mayor of London who wanted a country residence within easy riding distance of London. This was at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. When Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
's third son, John, Duke of Bedford, occupied Penshurst, the second hall, known as the Buckingham Building, was built.
In 1550 Edward VI granted the house and estate to Sir Ralph Fane a supporter of Protector Somerset but it was forfeited two years later after Sir Ralph was executed for treason.
The Sidney family
Penshurst Place was enlarged after 1552 when King Edward VI granted the house to Sir William Sidney (1482–1554), who had been a courtier to the King’s father, Henry VIII. Sir William's son HenryHenry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...
(1529–1586) married Lady Mary Dudley
Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney
Mary Sidney , Lady Sidney was an English lady-in-waiting at the court of Elizabeth I, and the mother of the courtier and poet Sir Philip Sidney...
, whose family became implicated in the Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
affair, although Henry himself escaped any such implications. During his lifetime he added apartments and the "King’s Tower" to Penshurst. He also created what is now one of England's oldest private gardens.
Philip Sidney
Philip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
(1554–1586), Henry’s son, was born at Penshurst Place in 1554. He was buried in old St Paul's, in London, having died 25 days after a fatal wounding from a bullet in the thigh at the battle of Zutphen
Battle of Zutphen
The Battle of Zutphen was a confrontation of the Eighty Years' War on 22 September 1586, near Zutphen , the Netherlands. It was fought between forces of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, aided by the English, against the Spanish, who sought to regain the northern Netherlands.Important...
, but his tomb was destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666.
Philip's brother Robert Sidney
Robert Sidney
Robert Sidney may refer to:*Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester , English nobleman and statesman*Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester , son of the above*Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester -See also:...
now inherited Penshurst. His time there resulted in more additions to the state rooms, including an impressive "Long Gallery". He had also inherited the Earldom of Leicester
Earl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
: his descendants for the next seven generations continued to live at the mansion. By the 19th century the building was falling into disrepair, but a new occupant in 1818, Sir John Shelley-Sidney, and his son Philip began to restore it. The latter was created Baron De L'Isle and Dudley
Viscount De L'Isle
Viscount De L'Isle, of Penshurst in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1956 for William Sidney, 6th Baron de L'Isle and Dudley...
in 1835; the present peer is now the second Viscount, and it is to him and his father that much of the modern restoration is due, in spite of the house having suffered neglect during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Today the house and gardens are open to the public.
Main features of the house
It is possible to see in the house the evidence of occupation over its 670-year history:- The State Rooms, filled with a wonderful collection acquired by generations of the Sidney family.
- The West Solar, or State Dining Room, part of the mediaeval building, contains an interesting collection of family portraits, furniture and porcelain.
- The Queen Elizabeth Room, named after Queen Elizabeth I, with its display of early upholstered furniture.
- The Tapestry Room
- The Long Gallery, full of royal and family portraits
- The Nether Gallery: with an array of arms and armour
- Toy Museum - features toys from several generations of the Sidney family, includes dolls, doll houses, teddies, toy soldiers, mechanical toys and general play items
Cultural references
- The house and its owners were paid a tribute in Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's seventeenth century poem To Penshurst. - The Great Hall and other interior rooms were used as the interior sets for the 1992 television series Covington CrossCovington CrossCovington Cross is a British/American television series that was broadcast on ABC in the United States from August 25 to October 31, 1992. It also aired in the UK, and was dubbed for broadcast in France....
. - The Baron's Hall was used as a set for the Hollywood film The Other Boleyn Girl based on the novel by Philippa GregoryPhilippa GregoryPhilippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
. - The Baron's Hall was used as a set for the film The Princess BrideThe Princess BrideThe Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
. - The Baron's Hall was also used as a 'banqueting hall' location in the early episodes of BBC tv show MerlinMerlin (TV series)Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
. - There is a local authority housing block called Penshurst in Chalk Farm, London.