Penshurst Place

Penshurst Place stands in the village of Penshurst, Kent, thirty-two miles southeast of London. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family and was built in 1341 as a hall house for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four-time Lord Mayor. The medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. In the 15th century it passed to the Dukes of Buckingham, who added the second hall known as the Buckingham Building. The house later became home to the Sidney family, who enlarged it and created one of England’s oldest private gardens. The house is worth visiting for its long history and the figures connected with it. It was the birthplace of the Elizabethan poet Philip Sidney and his sister Mary Sidney. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, hosted Henry VIII at Penshurst in 1519 before his execution in 1521. The Sidney family restored the house in the 19th century and opened it to the public in 1946 to help pay for repairs after the Second World War. Many films and television series have been shot here, including The Princess Bride and Wolf Hall. Inside, visitors find rooms that show six centuries of occupation. The State Rooms contain family portraits, furniture and porcelain collected over generations. The Queen Elizabeth Room displays early upholstered furniture, while the Long Gallery holds royal and family portraits. The Nether Gallery displays an array of arms and armour. The Toy Museum shows toys from several generations of the Sidney family. Outside, the Sidney Oak, which stood for more than a thousand years, has been commemorated with a plaque.