South East Parham House, gardens and St Peter's Church, West Sussex

Parham House is a lovely Elizabethan mansion set in a deer park surrounded by the South Downs. It is well-loved family home, and only three families have lived here since it was built.

Queen Elizabeth I may have dined here in the late 1500s. Princess Charlotte came in 1808 and the Duchess of Kent arrived with Princess Victoria in 1821. In 1928, Queen Mary visited, making a rather unceremonial entrance through a farmyard after the royal car took a wrong turn.

Simon Jenkins in his book 'England’s Thousand best Houses’ says “It is a house of magic”. It truly is.

The manor of Parham originally belonged to Westminster Abbey but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and Henry VIII granted the land in 1540 to Robert Palmer, a wealthy London merchant. His grandson, Thomas, married the goddaughter of Elizabeth I and was responsible for building the first house here in 1577. His two and a half year old son laid the foundation stone as it was considered good luck for this to be done by the youngest member of the household.

The house took six years to build and with the Great Hall at its centre. The exterior may originally have been covered with a lime wash.

Thomas doesn’t seem to have had much affection for Parham as leased the house and later sold it to to Thomas Bisshop for the mighty sum of £4,500. Bisshopp was a lawyer and Member of Parliament. He was knighted two years later and bought a baronetcy in 1620. The 2nd baronet fought for the king in the Civil War, was sent to the tower and his lands were seized. They were only returned to him after a long legal battle.

The 7th Baronet relocated the village clustered around the church, moving the inhabitants to the nearby village of Rackham. He added the stables, courtyards and a laundry building with a clock tower.

The 8th Baronet laid out the Pleasure gardens, extensively remodelled the house and rebuilt the church, adding the tower. He died heavily in debt.

He was succeeded by his daughter who married Robert Curzon, who engaged architect Anthony Salvin to carry out further building works which included the Gothic screen wall on the north front and moving the front door.

After eleven generations, the house was sold in 1922 to the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson for £200,000. Clive was head of the prestigious family engineering firm. The House was in a very bad state of repair and the Pearsons employed the architect Victor Heal to supervise renovation works during the 1920s and 1930s. Everything was done with the greatest care and sensitivity, with minute attention to detail and historical accuracy. Victorian additions were removed and architectural features that had been covered up were reinstated, returning the rooms to their original Elizabethan form but with electricity and modern plumbing.

Over more than 40 years, the Pearsons collected pictures and antique furniture, acquiring many items that had either been at Parham or had historical or family association with the House. They established an impressive library and portrait collection, as well as a collection of needlework and wool hangings.

During the Second World War, many of the items were put into storage as the Pearsons took in many friends and relations, as well as 30 evacuee children from London. Canadian soldiers were based on the Estate from 1942 to the end of the war, with the officers based in the half of the House now open to visitors, while the family lived in the other half. Nissan huts were built in the park for the lower ranks. Unlike many other historic houses, Parham survived the war almost completely intact.

The house was officially handed back to the Pearsons in 1946. Tradesmen from the Southern Railway helped repair and repaint the house and the furniture was returned. The house was open to the public from 1947 as the Pearsons wanted to share the joys of Parham with others. It was one of the first to open with tours led by the family.

The house is now owned by a charitable trust.

There is a display about the Pearson family and the house in the Ship Room off the Long Gallery.

The house contains an important collection of needlework, paintings and furniture. Embroidered Stuart pictures and panels cover furniture, walls and beds as well as examples of C18th and C19th work including samplers and are regarded as the finest collection of historic needlework outside London.

It is surrounded by a large estate and gardens.

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Plan of the house

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[Eleanor]

Parham House cont...

The entrance is via the courtyard with its fountain and statue of the River God.

From the north door, a flight of stairs leads up to the Great Hall

The Great Hall was the heart of the Tudor house, and designed to impress. It has been restored as an early C20th take on an Elizabethan Hall.

Floor to ceiling windows flood the room with light.

Apart from candles on the furniture, a carved wood candalabra above the table was the only form of artificial light. There is oak panelling round the base of the walls with an impressive display of royal portraits. A splendid oak screen faces the room. The curtained arches allowed access from the south door. The stewards room was directly above this and the windows set high in the wall above the screen would have let him keep an eye on what was going on below...

The stone fireplace is original and has a pair of C18th leather postillion boots next to it. Below a bench next to the fireplace are C17th buckets which could be used to carry water in case of a fire.

The plaster ceiling is modern but has been replastered to its original design.

The furniture is Elizabethan or Jacobean with the most ‘modern’ piece being the Long case clock which dates from the reign of William and Mary.

Beyond the Great Hall is the Great Parlour. The lower ceiling can make the room feel a bit dark. It was replaced by Clive Pearson and has coats of arms of different families connected to Parham, as well as animals and birds. Windows overlook the gardens and South Downs.

It is Jacobean rather than Elizabethan. Lighting was by wall scones.

It is furnished as a private and very comfortable sitting room with C17th carpets rather than a stone floor. Chairs are covered with tapestry and the walls are covered with paintings.

This leads into the Saloon, which comes as a complete contrast to the previous two rooms.
The style is Robert Adam. It is a light and airy room with pale painted walls and details round the doors and ceiling picked out in gold. A crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling and carefully placed mirrors make the room feel larger. The bookcase was a later addition, but is so successfully done it feels as if it has always been there.

The Royal Worcester dessert service displayed in front of it was a wedding gift from the 8th Baronet to his eldest son Cecil. His bride died three years later and the service was hardly ever used.

Leaving the salon, a stair case goes up to the first floor with a large landing with display cabinets and family portraits. This was originally part of the Elizabethan Solar and there are views down to the Great Hall from here.

On the left is the Great Chamber which would have been one of the main Tudor reception rooms.
With its large bay window overlooking the grounds, it became the personal bedroom of Alice Pearson.

The room is now dominated by the four poster Tudor canopy bed, with embroidered canopy, backcloth and bedspread dating from 1585. The hangings are slightly later, about 1620.

The fireplace is original, but the elaborate overmantle was designed for the Pearsons. It features the initials of Clive and Alice Pearson along with a view of the house and heralding crestsfrom the Pearson coat of arms.

Displayed in the room is an embroidered Stuart Christening cushion featuring the finding of Moses.

The Grand Chamber leads out into the Tapestry Ante Room which was formerly a bathroom but is now used to display tapestries.

Steps lead down into the West Room which was probably Mr Pearson's bedroom and study. The walls are covered with C16th Italian wool wall hangings, with portraits of the ancestors connected to the house hanging above.

Near the cabinet, there is a C19th surveyor’s wheel. There is a display of C19th cut glass miniature obelisks on the open bureau shelf.

Next is the Green Room Ante Room with more Italian wool wall hangings and a needlework carpewhich is cross stitch worked on canvas. On the wall is a Hungarian needlework curtain in wool and silk.

On the walls are portraits of Charles II and his mistresses. His wife Catherine of Braganza isn’t forgotten and she hangs over the doorway into the Green Room.

The Green Room is partly dedicated to the C19th botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Banks, who was an ancestor of Mrs Pearson. As well as accompanying Captain Cooke to Australia and New Zealand, he also made expeditions to Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the sideboard is the painting of Omiah, the Otaheitan chief, who came to Britain with Captain Cook, becoming the first Polynesian to visit Europe.

On either side are two paintings by Stubbs of a kangaroo and a dingo based on skins brought back to England by Banks.

A staircase with more family portraits leads up to the second floor with a lobby and Long gallery. The Lobby is dominated by a full size portrait of Henry VIII. There are more embroidered pictures on the walls depicting Bible scenes.

The Long Gallery stretches the length of the south front overlooking the South Downs. It is the third-longest in a private house in England and was primarily a place to promenade in bad weather. It was used to drill the Parham Yeomanry during the threat of Napoleonic invasion.

It is stunning with its painted floral ceiling created in the 1960s. The floor boards and wall panelling ar the originals.

It is used to display fine furniture and wall hangings. In an alcove is a C17th spinet.

The Ship Room and White Room open off Long Gallery. The Ship Room now has a display about the Pearson family and Parham House.

The White Room was originally the nursery but is now a display room with the main collection of C17th needlework and stumpwork pictures, including Susanna and the Elders (the story of a virtuous woman falsely accused of adultery by two elders after she rejected their advances) and the Judgement of Solomon.

There are also room and bed hangings and a Jacobean font with Adam and Eve. The cover is counterbalanced by a cherub suspended on a rope over a pulley.

Stairs lead down to the gift shop and out into the gardens.

Thge house has a lovely atmosphere and feels very much loved. There are beautiful flower arrangements in every room featuring flowers from th walled garden.


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[Eleanor]

Parham House Gardens

Parham House is set in an extensive deer park, home to a wild herd of dark fallow deer, with trees and open grassland.

The highlight is the four acre walled garden which may predate the house and have been cultivated by the monks when the land belonged to Westminster Abbey. The stone walls date from the C18th and were repaired by the Pearsons. The garden is laid out in the traditional manner with paths dividing it into four parts. It has always provided vegetables, fruit and cut flowers for the house.

Over the years, the borders had become overgrown with bindweed. Since 2021, each bed in turn has been cleared of plants and left fallow for two years. Once all the bindweed and other weed have been dug out, the beds have been replanted.

The walled garden is entered by the Lion Gate and a gravel path surrounded with herbaceous borders runs down the centre of the garden.

Short paths off lead to statues.

On the left is the orchard. As well as traditional varieties of fruit trees, this also contains almonds, sweet chestnut and walnut trees.

On the right a path leads to the 1920s greenhouse, all that remains of four interconnecting greenhouses, with a display of garden tools.

Beyond the greenhouse is the rose garden and the herb garden enclosed by a trimmed yew hedge and with small pond

Across the cross path in the right hand quadrant is a large parterre garden with neatly trimmed hedges. There is a small vegetable garden by the far wall.

At the end of the central path is a small sheltered summer house with a splendid wisteria next to it.

Built into the wall of the north west corner of the garden is the Wendy House which was built in 1928 as a gift for Clive Pearson’s three daughters. It had an oak front door, wooden flooring, fireplace and a wooden stair case to the first floor with a wrought iron balcony. The family used to cook sausages here and tell ghost stories.

The gate next to the Wendy house leads into a summer house over looking the pleasure garden. This contains a beautiful nude statue by a C20th Serbian Sculptor of his wife.

The pleasure gardens were laid out in the C18th with a boating lake.

Veronica’s Maze was added in 1991 using bricks to form a path through the turf. It is described as a puzzle maze as you have to go forward all the time to reach the centre. You can take left or right forks but not turn left or right at a crossroads.

The walled garden is a delight, especially on a warm sunny day.

 

[Eleanor]

St Peter's Church, Parham

This is one of the best examples of an C18th estate church, built a few minutes walk from Parham House and surrounded by the South Downs. It is on the site of the original village that was relocated by the 7th Baronet.

There has probably been a church here since the C12th and the list of rectors goes back to 1148.

The lead font at the back of the church dates from the C14th. The Latin inscription translates as Jesus of Nazareth. The arms are those of Andrew Peverell, Knight of the Shire in the Parliament of 1350, who probably gave the font to the church.

The south chapel was added in 1545 by Robert Palmer when he was granted the land. His son requested in his will that he be buried in the chapel.

There was a major restoration by 8th Baronet in early C18th when the tower was rebuilt. The north transept was converted into a family pew with a fireplace. Box pews were added along with the two decker pulpit with a sounding board.

There was further restoration work in the C19th when exterior stonework was repaired and the south chapel was rebuilt. The east wall was rebuilt in 1933/4.

The church is still an unspoilt Georgian church with its box pews and simple wooden screen separating nave and chancel. It does not have electricity and still relies on candles for all lighting.

The two decker pulpit has a small reading desk. The small carved plaques on the side of the pulpit are of wood from the Mount of Olives and were brought back by a soldier who served in the Sussex Yeomanry in Palestine during the First World War. They were given to the church in 1965.

The altar has a simple wooden reredos beneath the east window.

The south chapel now serves as a vestry but still has a small piscina in the wall and memorials to past owners of Parham House.

The family pew is in the North transept and has a fireplace - the only form of heating in the church. The rector knew his sermon was too long when the squire began to shovel coal noisily on the fire.

This is a lovely small church although few visitors to Parham House venture this far. It well repays the short walk.

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