Penshurst Place

Penshurst Place is a very architecturally pleasing manor house, spanning eight distinct periods, and steeped in English history. In 1338, Sir John de Pulteney, a wealthy man of high social standing, bought the 4,000-acre Penshurst estate where he could build his country residence, but still be within easy reach of London.

By 1341, the traditional medieval manor house, comprising two wings joined by a great central hall, was completed, and it is the same magnificent hall (now known as the Barons Hall) that remains at the heart of Penshurst Place today. Built of local sandstone, with a chestnut wood roof supported by ten, life-size carved wooden figures, and having beautifully crafted windows, the Hall was not only sumptuous but naturally light and spacious. Although by this time a license had been granted to crenellate the house, the battlements constructed were solely in order to impress. However, in the late 14th century, a further licence was given to the owner, who fortified the house on a much grander scale, and with stronger defense measures. Of the huge crenellated curtain walls and turrets, a small 'Garden Tower' remains from this work.

When the Duke of Bedford became responsible for Penshurst Place at the beginning of the 15th century, he arranged for a second splendid hall to be built. Known as the 'Buckingham Building', and joined at one corner to the original Hall, the gables still display his emblems - the falcon and the ibex. In 1519, the 3rd Duke of Buckingham invited Henry VIII, to visit Penshurst Place. The Duke spent the equivalent of £870,000, making him welcome. Unfortunately, two years later, Henry VIII made a false accusation of treason against the Duke because he felt him to be a threat to the Crown, and 'Buckingham' was duly beheaded, his estates being forfeited to the King.

It was in 1552 that Penshurst Place first came into the ownership of the Sidney family, by way of a Royal gift, and it was that family who looked after the estate for the next 400 years. Despite being in debt to the tune of some £5,000 in 1583, Sir Henry Sidney had three new ranges of apartments added to the north of Barons Hall, a new entrance tower (the Kings Tower), and converted the Buckingham Building to house a series of state rooms. Some years later his son, Robert (1st Earl of Leicester), extended Penshurst Place even further by having a Long Gallery added to the state rooms.

During the 17th and 18th centuries the house underwent other structural changes and, around 1744, the estate fell into the hands of the Perrys. However, after William Perry's death, by a fortunate coincidence his daughter married into the Shelley family - distant ancestors of the Sidney family. By the middle of the 20th century, the house was suffering from neglect and serious damage as a result of the Second World War.

However, in 1945 the 6th Lord De L`Ilse and Dudley made the courageous decision to live in two rooms with his family, without central heating or modern bathrooms, whilst taking on the huge task of restoring this once stately home. It is due to their perseverance and hard work, often with limited financial resources, that Penshurst Place is, once again, the superb house we see today.