Parham House is a Grade I listed house. The name Parham is thought to derive from the Old English "perham", a compound word meaning "pear enclosure". The land was granted by King Henry VIII to Robert Palmer of Henfield, and on 28th January 1577 the foundation stone of the current House was laid by his two-year-old grandson Thomas, a custom thought to bring good luck. When he grew up, Thomas sold Parham to Thomas Bishopp, whose descendants lived here for eleven generations until 1922, when it was sold to the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson. Clive Pearson was the second son of Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. He married Alicia Knatchbull-Hugessen, daughter of 1st Lord Brabourne. 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.
During the Second World War, 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. In 1948 the Pearsons opened Parham to the public. They were amongst the first to do so regularly in the post-war years. Their daughter Veronica Tritton welcomed and continued this tradition until she died in 1993.
Parham, its beautiful gardens and its 875-acre estate are now owned by a Charitable Trust and Mrs Tritton's great-niece Lady Emma Barnard and her family live here. They are involved with every aspect of its care and preservation, and Parham is still very much a family home.
The Pearsons spent more than 40 years filling Parham with a sensitively chosen collection of furniture, paintings, books, textiles and clocks. They also acquired interesting items which had once been at Parham or had a historical or family association with the House. Alicia Pearson was a skilled needlewoman, and she created at Parham one of the finest and most important collections of early needlework in the country.
The Gardens at Parham, Grade II* listed, consist of seven acres of Pleasure Grounds, laid out in the 18th century, with a lake, spring bulbs, a brick and turf maze and many specimen trees. The romantic four-acre Walled Garden has been cultivated for hundreds of years and celebrates the best traditions of English walled gardens. The Walled Garden contains romantic wide herbaceous borders, a rose garden, a cut flower garden, a vegetable garden, an orchard and a 1920s Wendy House. A splendid Greenhouse, also dating from the 1920s, has a fine display of pelargoniums and other tender plants.
In 2020 Parham had to close to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and an important decision was made to tackle some serious and long-standing perennial weed problems particularly in the Walled Garden. Visitors who know Parham well will therefore notice some changes when they visit. This is the start of a very exciting horticultural renovation for Parham.
Itinerary
10am - Arrival with tea & coffee
10.30am - Guided tour of Parham House
12 noon - Pre-booked Sandwich Lunch in the Big Kitchen
1.00pm - Guided tour of Parham Gardens
2.00pm - Leisure time to revisit the house and gardens
SGT Members: £42pp
Includes tea & coffee upon arrival, guided tours of house and garden as well as a packed sandwich lunch in the Big Kitchen.
Additional information: Visit https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000161?section=official-list-entry for information relating to the Grade II* listed park and garden.
Photos: Parham Park Ltd ©. Provided by kind permission of Parham House and Gardens, West Sussex