Parham House and Gardens – West Sussex
Thursday 28 August 2025
Parham is a beautiful Elizabethan house, set in 875 acres of working agricultural and forestry land, which includes 300 acres of ancient parkland where dark fallow deer roam. The estate was originally owned by the Monastery of Westminster and granted to Robert Palmer by King Henry VIII in 1540. It contains an important collection of needlework, paintings and furniture. For more information about Parham House and Gardens go to www.parhaminsussex.co.uk
Dark fallow deer in the parkland
Near to the house is a four-acre walled garden and a seven-acre pleasure garden with a pond, a grass and brick maze, specimen trees, spring bulbs and St. Peter’s church. It is positioned at the foot of the South Downs in Pulborough, West Sussex.
The pond
The maze – 1/4 mile long and built with 6500 bricks
St Peter’s church
We had an excellent tour of the house from Joanne who was very knowledgeable and entertaining, and passed on some great facts; followed by lunch in the big kitchen and an equally interesting visit to the gardens lead by the head gardener Andrew Humphris.
The predicted rain showers behaved nicely and only happened during the house tour.
The Great Hall has many Tudor and Stuart portraits
Deer antlers get bigger each year as these annual examples on the wall clearly show; the oldest being top left and the most recent bottom right
The big kitchen has 2 rows of bells so staff could be summoned from all parts of the house
Stunning flower arrangements in most rooms are changed twice a week and grown in a dedicated area of the walled garden
Many rooms had stunning views
The Green Room has connections to botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Banks; the large central painting is an oil c 1776 of Omai, a Polynesian visitor to England, thought to be by a pupil of Joshua Reynolds
Exquisite needlework and tapestry can be seen throughout the house
The amazing Long Gallery (158 feet) and its unusual ceiling
A pargeter is brought in to restore ceilings by adding and shaping a plaster mix rather than creating it from a mould. This section of restored ceiling has some interesting animals. Top right is a ‘sea cow’ but at the time of creating, the pargeter wouldn’t have seen a picture of one. Thus we have what looks like a cow with webbed feet.
Head gardener Andrew Humphris describes the ongoing work in the garden managed by his small team and volunteers
A ha ha prevents deer entering the garden
Into the four-acre walled garden. The herbaceous bed on the right as you enter has only been replanted since March this year, following two years being laid fallow in order to combat the bindweed. This is the ongoing plan for the walled garden section by section. The herbaceous borders which are colour themed, mostly stand with only the support of each other. There has been little watering during this hot dry summer and little feeding too as that would create much larger plants that would flop.
The rose garden, which has been mulched in the spring and then only had one watering this summer, has been a surprise in the way it has coped during the drought. The soil is greensand so drains quickly, but has the advantage of allowing the roots to get down deep to find what they need.
In the cutting garden where the flowers are grown for the beautiful displays in the house.
Head gardener Andrew Humphris leads members through the last remaining ancient glass corridor full of tender beauties.
Less of a surprise during this year’s drought is the superb performance of the nepeta seen here at the entrance to the glass corridor. It was Chelsea chopped and had no extra feed added to the greensand soil and no watering, but has been prolific.
The box hedging looks very healthy but Andrew has ongoing struggles with both box blight and box moth caterpillar. Apart from chemical control one thing he thinks that helps is not to clip it until September.
Text and images courtesy of Lesley Jones