Precious Petworth

Petworth House and Park - just magnificent! The visit was greatly assisted by the equally beautiful day. The hottest day this summer!

The grand staircase at Petworth. 

Just a small slice of the collection at Petworth House. 

A relatively slow morning in Midhurst. We were positioned in a lovely shaded spot so the unusual weather didn't over heat the van. 

Late morning we drove on to Petworth, gained a parking space under some great 300-year old oak trees before we visited the Petworth Mansion. 

A gnarled 300-year old oak in the grounds at Petworth. 

Petworth houses the National Trust's finest and most valuable collection of art, with the 4th Century BC's Leconsfield Aphrodite by Praxiteles being the National Trust most valuable sculpture. 

The unassuming Leconsfield Aphrodite modestly sitting on a sideboard at Petworth. 

By the time we arrived the car park of this very popular property was filling up fast. With the temperature quickly rising to obscene levels for the UK this time of the year, we parked under some of "Capability" Brown's oak trees and enjoyed a leisurely drink before facing the site-seeing shuffle. 

Some consider this a beautifully natural parkland. It is difficult to argue against this! 

The art collection is absolutely outstanding - with the 16th and 17th Century owners being great collectors of art from Europe during their Grand Tours, and also being great patrons of artists of the quality of Turner and van Dyke. There are numerous of these artists' paintings in the collection. 

 Funnily enough, the Red Room! Walls covered with paintings. 

Van Dykes' paintings of Charles I and his wife, the French Princess Henrietta Maria.  

A painting of Petworth at Petworth. 

 European Royals at Petworth. The Prince Regent, Tsar Alexander I, Thre Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, Freserick William III of Prussia,  Prince of Wuttenburg - after the Peace of Paris 1814. 

The sculpture gallery was also quite outstanding with many Roman copies of the original Greek statues. 

Being the 300th anniversary of the birth "Capability" Brown, a display highlighting his work was available for people to ponder. His reputation is certainly intact but the authors of the display didn't shy away from some of the negative impacts of his visions - namely, uprooting whole villages to create his natural park gardens. The landscape in front of Petworth House certainly doesn't enhance Capabilities reputation. 

Capability's wasteland at the front entrance to Petworth which had once been a delightful parterre garden.

We took a walk through the very pretty village of Petworth. The town grew up around Petworth House with a dependence on the house for labour and support. 

The Petworth church and laneway. 

Cobbled stone alleys.... 

...  and lovely doorways. 

As the temperature rose into the 30s we hastily retreated to the shade of the earlier discovered oak trees, had lunch and a rest before heading up the road to Godalming for our overnight stop.