The Great Hall at Penshurst Place, circa 1915

Penshurst Place is an historic building near Tonbridge in Kent, 32 miles (50 km) to the south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and it and its gardens are open for public viewing. The 14th century great hall at Penshurst Place showing the screens passage, from Ancestral Homes of Noted Americans by Anne Hollingsworth Wharton (1915). ... The 14th century great hall at Penshurst Place showing the screens passage, from Ancestral Homes of Noted Americans by Anne Hollingsworth Wharton (1915). ... Statistics Population: 31,600 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ591468 Administration District: Tonbridge & Malling Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone... This article is about the county in England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area...

The ancient village of Penshurst was within the manor of that name: the manor appears as Penecestre or Penchester, a name adopted by Stephen de Penecestre, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, who possessed the manor towards the end of the 13th century. Penshurst village is located some five miles south of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. ... Stephen de Pencester was Warden of the Cinque Ports when the first authoritative list of Cinque Ports Confederation Members was produced in 1293. ... Flag of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. ...

The present mansion was built in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. When Henry IV's third son, John, Duke of Bedford, occupied Penshurst, the second hall, known as the Buckingham Building, was built. Events The Queens College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. ... Henry IV (3 April 1367 – 20 March 1413) was the King of England and France and Lord of Ireland from 1399 to 1413. ... John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford also known as John Platagenet (June 20, 1389 - September 14, 1435) was the fourth son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as regent for his nephew, King Henry VI of England. ...

The Sidney family

It 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 Henry (1529–1586) married Lady Mary Dudley, whose family became implicated in the Lady Jane Grey 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. Sir Henry Sidney (1529 - May 5, 1586), lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney, a prominent politician and courtier in 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... Lady Jane Grey (1537 – February 12, 1554), a great-grand-daughter of Henry VII of England, reigned as uncrowned queen regnant of the Kingdom of England for nine days in 1553. ...

Philip Sidney (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, but his tomb was destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666. Philip Sidney. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Great Fire of London was a major fire that swept through the City of London from September 2nd to September 5th, 1666, and resulted more or less in the destruction of the city. ...

Philip's brother Robert Sidney 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: 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 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. Today the house and gardens are open to the public. Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (November 19, 1563 – July 13, 1626), second son of Sir Henry Sidney, was a statesman of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. ... The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ... The Viscountcy of De LIsle was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1956 for William Philip Sidney, 6th Baron De LIsle and Dudley, and future Governor-General of Australia. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Penshurst Place

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.

Interesting Notes

• The Great Hall and other interior rooms were used as the interior sets for the 1992 tv series Covington Cross.

More recently the Baron's Hall was used as a set for scenes in the Hollywood film 'The Other Boleyn Girl' based on the novel by Philippa Gregory - due to be released early 2008 - starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Directed by Justin Chadwick (Bleak House - BBC) // Overview Opening Screen Covington Cross was a TV show that premiered on ABC on August 25th, 1992. ...

External links

• Penshurst Place — official site
• Penshurst Place Garden — information on garden history
• Details of the Sidney family
• Flickr photos called Penshurst Place