143 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



pre-eminently one of these. It is, indeed, one of the most 

 important and stately old mansions in Western Sussex a 

 charming architectural creation, \v'.th noble gardens and a 

 beautiful park, lying at the foot of tha Downs, an] having 

 behind it a hill commanding a great prospect of land and sea, 

 with the Isle of Wight to close the view. The house has been 

 restored by judicious hands, so that it bears the true aspect 

 of that spacious age in which it was built. It stands where 

 the expansive level of the lower country melts insensibly into 

 the graceful upland curves, and the broad acres smile under 

 their ample share of the sunlight. Before the Conquest, the 

 Abbot of Westminster held Parham Manor, but one Tovi, a 

 freeman, was settled there. The place was numbered among 

 the broad possessions of Earl Roger, and in the centuries that 

 followed passed through the families of St. John and Tregoz, 

 Edward Tregoz having been lord in 1399, after which period 

 Parham seems to have lapsed to the Crown. The Abbots 

 of Westminster continued, however, to hold the manor, and 



no confirmation of the tradition, but it is worthy of remark 

 that tiie date 1583 and the Queen's arms occur on the wall 

 at the upper end of the h ill. The present flat ceiling is of the 

 same date, and it is suggested that it may not have been 

 originally there. Whether that be the case or not, this 

 construction has enabled the beautiful long gallery to be 

 erected, a feature quite characteristic of the time, though 

 rarely found, perhaps, in the same relative position. The 

 gallery at Parham is lined with portraits of the Bisshopps anJ 

 their connections, including one of Henry Bisshopp, a stout 

 Royalist, who was concealed here from t ic Parliamentary 

 forces, and who is represented with a dog which shared his 

 hiding-place, and on whose silence his fate depended. Entered 

 from this gallery is a small chapel, with a curious Jacobean 

 wooden font. 



The hall below is lighted by four large windows, 

 24ft. high, and, according to the custom of the times, has a 

 carved oak screen at the lower end, which is good, and 



DENOTES THE TIMB ON BRASS AND BOX. 



at the Dissolution their possession came to the King. Parham 

 was thereafter sold to Robert Palmer, third son of Thomas 

 Palmer, of Angmering, the sale being effected in 1540, at 

 the price of ^1,2:5 6s. jd., and a yearly rental of 6 us. 4d. 

 We do not know what manner of house stood on the site at 

 the time, but some parts of a medizeval dwelling-place are 

 emboJied in thi existing structure. Thomas Palmer, the new 

 owner's son, completed the house almost as it stands to-day, 

 and enclosed a park, and Sir Thomas Palmer, Robert's 

 grandson, sold the estate in 1597 to Sir Thomas Bisshopp, 

 Secretary of State under Sir Francis Walsingham. 



The house is built of chalk from the Downs, faced with 

 stone, and its south and west fronts are excellent work of 

 Elizabethan date. The trace of the modern hand is still upon 

 the structure, but where should we wish t > see better work of 

 its kind than that glorious hall window of many lights, cresteJ 

 by the quaint gables and picturesque chimneys above ? In 

 August, 1591, Queen Elizabeth is said to have visited Sir 

 Thomas Palmer's house, and to have dined in the newly- 

 finished hall, on her \\ ::y to Cowdray. There seems to be 



in very perfect preservation. The north and east sides 

 of the house belong to the reign of Henry V1I1 , and some 

 parts to a still earlier date. The k.tchen is rem irkable as 

 being identical in plan with that of Christ Church, Oxford, 

 and is a cube of 25ft., with two great fireplaces beneath 

 Gothic arches, I4ft 6in. wide. 



The house passed, after the death of Sir Thomas 

 Bisshopp, through the hands of many descendants, and 

 has never since been alienated, but has been transmitted 

 through female heirs. Sir Cecil Bisshopp, second bironet, 

 made some changes in the mansion, about 1710, rather pre- 

 judicial to its character, and the port co on the south side seems 

 to have been refaced about that time. The " Topographer " 

 of 1791 figures the house, and remarks that the windows 

 were rendered uniform by new sashes, though some still 

 remained in their original state. " The workmen are now, in 

 the absence of the family, making similar alterations, and 

 adding and refitting several rooms." At the same time, 

 though the old was being destroyed, something of sham 

 antique had been added in the shape of " castellated stables 



