Parham Research Group.

NEW NEW NEW

2010-02-08T03:48:00.000-08:00

This site is now up and running again, lots of new information will be added asp, follow the links to other exciting sites, plus a brand new site ,ww1 and ww2 research at Parham, and Slindon, link will be added soon.

New site

2009-08-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

For up to date information click here.

Interim Excavation Report

2009-06-29T05:47:00.001-07:00

A copy of the interim excavation report is available for download from the main Worthng Archaeological Society web site at http://sites.google.com/site/worthingarch/Home/reports

Further Excavation - 11 & 12 July 2009

2009-06-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Following on from the succesful excavation over the May bank holiday, WAS will return to Parham House to open a number of 1m x 1m test pits to try and determine the extent of the area of Glebe land, and possibly (hopefully!) to locate one or more of the Parsonage buildings that were demolished between 1733 and 1758.

Those interested in taking part in the excavation shoould contact worthing.arch@gmail.com

Parham 2009.

2009-05-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick summary of the Parham excavation over the bank holiday weekend.

The weather was much kinder to us than last year (although those of us on site at 9.00 a.m. on Monday were worried that the downpour we were met with would last all day).

Over the weekend, we wanted to explore the area of Glebe land where the parsonage once stood, and to examine a feature on the geophysics results which appeared to show a footpath.

The weekend was open to members of the public who took the opportunity to learn about the documentary research that has been undertaken on the Parham Estate, visit the trenches, and even help wash the finds as they were discovered.

We opened three main trenches. Two of these have positively identified the original footpath to the church, which was made up of substantial fragments of sandstone covered with gravel/flint/iron stone. One of these trenches also seems to indicate that the two mounds south of the house are actually made up of the soil removed to make the Ha-Ha.

The main trench, appears to have come down directly on the yard of the parsonage. A sondage at one end shows that the area had been resurfaced at some stage. Finds on the yard surface including salt glazed pottery imported from Germany, fragments of an eighteenth century wine bottle, and a clay pipe bowl all seem to tie up with the probably date of the demolition of the Parsonage by 1750.

We also opened 8 test pits, and these have helped define the western limit of the Glebe land. We hope to return to Parham (possibly later this year) to dig some further 1m x 1m test pits to try and find the northern and eastern limits. We will also be doing some half meter resistivity over the area of Glebe land. Obviously, our main goal is to locate the footprint of the Parsonage, and in particular the cellar mentioned in the documentary evidence.

As well as roof tile, floor tile, bricks, pottery (ranging from the twelfth century onwards), window glass etc, the finds include a possible falconers bell, a decorative copper stud and a possible pair of iron candle snuffers.

The interim report is currently being worked on, so keep an eye on the blog site for details.

2009-05-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick summary of the Parham excavation over the bank holiday weekend. Photos and further details will follow.

The weather was much kinder to us than last year (although those of us on site at 9.00 a.m. on Monday were worried that the downpour we were met with would last all day).

Over the weekend, we wanted to explore the area of Glebe land where the parsonage once stood, and to examine a feature on the geophysics results which appeared to show a footpath.

The weekend was open to members of the public who took the opportunity to learn about the documentary research that has been undertaken on the Parham Estate, visit the trenches, and even help wash the finds as they were discovered.

We opened three main trenches. Two of these have positively identified the original footpath to the church, which was made up of substantial fragments of sandstone covered with gravel/flint/iron stone. One of these trenches also seems to indicate that the two mounds south of the house are actually made up of the soil removed to make the Ha-Ha.

The main trench, appears to have come down directly on the yard of the parsonage. A sondage at one end shows that the area had been resurfaced at some stage. Finds on the yard surface including salt glazed pottery imported from Germany, fragments of an eighteenth century wine bottle, and a clay pipe bowl all seem to tie up with the probably date of the demolition of the Parsonage by 1750.

We also opened 8 test pits, and these have helped define the western limit of the Glebe land. We hope to return to Parham (possibly later this year) to dig some further 1m x 1m test pits to try and find the northern and eastern limits. We will also be doing some half meter resistivity over the area of Glebe land. Obviously, our main goal is to locate the footprint of the Parsonage, and in particular the cellar mentioned in the documentary evidence.

As well as roof tile, floor tile, bricks, pottery (ranging from the twelfth century onwards), window glass etc, the finds include a possible falconers bell, a decorative copper stud and a possible pair of iron candle snuffers.

The interim report is currently being worked on, so keep an eye on the blog site for details.

Our sincere thanks go to all at the Parham Estate for their continued support and enthusiasm for our work.

Parham excavation dates.

2009-05-06T04:19:00.001-07:00

Digging into Parham’s History…Excavations to find the medieval village

Sunday 24th – Monday 25th May

Worthing Archaeological Society will be investigating the buried history of the Parham estate, and hope to confirm the location of the parsonage.

As well as the excavation, the society will be giving tours/talks through the open days. These will include specific talks on

· desktop research/maps

· finds

· Geophysics

· The open trenches

Come and get your hands on finds dating back to the Roman period, have a go at looking under the ground without digging, talk to the archaeologists and help wash new finds as they are found, all included in the normal admission price!

2009-04-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

Excavation Weekend at Parham House
Sunday 24th– Monday 25th May

Ongoing project to investigate the history of the Parham Estate. This weekend’s work will attempt to locate the parsonage on the area of Glebe land identified by the County Archaeologist. Having revisited the geophysics results from 2008, we will be opening at least four trenches, three on a now hidden path/trackway that leads to the church, and a larger trench on the possible site of the parsonage.

Further trenches may be opened on the weekend.

The excavations will be open for public viewing on Sunday 24th and Monday 25th.

As well as the excavation, we will be undertakin tours/talks through the open days. These will include specific talks on

desktop research/maps,
finds (including finds from the digging of the Ha Ha in the 1970’s),
Geophysics,
The open trenches, and;
Structures on the estate, including the Dovecote and the Ice House

Note to Worthing Archaeological Society members:

The society will be on site from Saturday 23rd May, although the site will NOT be open to the public until Sunday 24th May.

We will be looking for at least 6 people each day to run talks (to ensure we have sufficient cover over breaks/lunchtime), 8 excavators to cover the four trenches, and 2 people to assist with finds processing.

Even if the weather is bad, we will also need to ensure that we have sufficient people on site to continue with the talks. If you are a member of the Worthing Archaeological Society and would like to take part in this weekends work please e-mail worthing.arch@gmail.com confirming which days you are available for.

2009-03-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

1947 photo

2009-03-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

New photos.

2009-03-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

New photo,s posted, link click here.

Revisiting the Geophysics

2009-03-10T06:49:00.001-07:00

Based on the comments from John Mills, we have looked again at the geophysics done at Parham last year, and there appears to be a large area of "noise" on both sides of the footpath half way between the church and the car park.

This ties in with John's estimated position of the church land where the parsonage was located unitl the end of the 1700's when it was pulled own. The area of noise is also adjacent to a east-west feature that appears to be a path to the gate in the church yard, which may have been exposed in one of our trenches last year, when on the last day of the dig we deturfed an area on one of the mounds by the path, and located a packed iron-stone surface.

Therefore, this area could be one of the targets for the exacavtion over the late May bank holiday weekend.

New Year Research.

2009-01-19T02:46:00.000-08:00

Our first visit to Parham will be the 7th of February, meet at 10am in car park.

We have some new information in relationship to the location of the village, more details will be posted very soon.

New project.

2008-09-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

The Dovecote at Parham is an interesting building, dating to the early 18th century, but it is thought that there was a much early dovecote on the site. The research and recording program will it is hoped review its long history.
Photo shows inside the dovecote, which shows the nesting boxes, at present the roof is being held up , over the next year a grant will be applied for to fully restore the building.

Progress.

2008-08-24T03:17:00.000-07:00

The next planned work at Parham will start in early October, there is alto of planned winter work, including the recording of the Dove cote.
Other work will include further excavation work around the area of the Ha Ha, this work will be undertaken over the early Autumn and weather permitting throughout the winter months.

The other work that needs to be undertaken is further research work, this needs to be undertaken at the records office and other places where records may be kept, .

So plenty of work.

The research work needs to be coordinated, so will be getting a team together to undertake this work .

New name.

2008-05-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

You may notice that i have changed the name of this group, the reason being that it has become very evident that Parham estate is a multi period site, covering all the periods of archeology.

To understand the history of the estate investigation must cover all areas, in very recent trail excavation trenches, around the church area, pottery has turned up from Iron Age to Roman, Medieval, Tudor and later.

More results and an interim report will appear within a short period of time, and will be published on line at our journal online, web site, http://arch-news.blogspot.com, meanwhile later excavation progress reports will appear at p://w-a-s-excavation-diary.blogspot.com. More history of the estate will be added here as and when any new information is available.

Update

2008-05-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Geophysics results to date, more information will be posted soon.

Double click on photo to enlarge,interpretation of images will be
posted very soon.

Excavation at Parham.

2008-05-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

There will be an excavation at Parham over the weekend of 24th/26th May, trail trenches will be put across interesting features which the geophysics have shown up.

Full information will be posted here over the next few days, do have a look at the new photos and drawings of the estate over the years, link at the side.

Village around a church.

2008-03-17T02:18:00.001-07:00

This is an example of a medieval village around a church, .

Geophysics survey.

2008-03-03T00:21:00.000-08:00

We are about to start the geophysics survey of the area around the church, this area is the most promising location for the village. The results of the survey may not be conclusive due to the geology of the area, being sandstone, renowned for giving mixed results.
The survey will be undertaken over the next six weeks.

Parham excavaion and research weekend.

2008-02-28T00:50:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks resistivity survey of the most likely site of the medieval village will be undertaken, based on the results of the survey and desk top research, over the weekend of 24th, 25th and 26th of May trenches will be put across features.

The site will be open to view by visitors to Parham estate on theses days .

Members who would like to be involved over the three days please let me know.

New drawing of the house.

2008-02-04T00:38:00.000-08:00

Found this slightly different drawing of the house in a early newspaper !Topographer 1791.

Dove-cote.

2008-01-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

Found this old drawing in Worthing library archives, period 1920s.

History of the estate of Parham, Being added to all the time.

2008-01-18T11:11:00.001-08:00

Domesday Book describes two estates, one of seven hides held by Westminster Abbey and one of three hides held by a freeman. The three-hide state, which passed to Robert Fitz Tetbald must have been in the south, since it contained a Water mill.

There are three charters dating from before the Norman Conquest purporting to grant the seven –hide estate to Westminster Abbey, one of St. Dustan and two of Edward the Confessor, but all are forgeries. However, because Domesday Book states that the grant to Westminster took place before the Conquest it is quite likely to have been made by King Edward, since Westminster Abbey and its rebuilding was particularly important to him.

A 10-hide estate-one of middling size of Sussex and comprising the later medieval parish-is therefore likely to have existed before king Edwards accession in 1042.The estate and parish boundaries were probably coincident, so that parts of the present park boundaries probably date from this period, although the boundaries in the north and south may have remained undefined until much later. the relatively high proportion of cottarii (“ cottages” ) to villains in Domesday Book may indicate that some tenants derived most of their living from the common, although there was land for eight ploughs and nine acres of meadow.

The Norman Conquest to the Reformation 1086-1540.

Fitz estate had passed to the Tregoz family by the thirteenth century and remained with them until the sixteenth century, although in the fifteenth century it appears to have been crown land for a short time.

Little is known about this period, but in 1257 the family was granted a free warren of their estates, which was confirmed in 1324-5. (Free warren was right to hunt all game)

The importance of the area of hunting is further illustrated by the existence of a park on the Westminster Abbey land.

In the mid-fourteenth century there was expenditure on “carrying corn to the park” and in 1356-7 customary works included “enclosing garden, farm, and park “

There are references to a (rabbit) warren that present as late as 1463 when a tenant was fined for taking rabbits. Photo of medieval rabbit Warren.

The Westminster lands were let to farm from 1357-8 until the abbey was dissolved in 1540.

There is no further mention of a park until after the reformation but it would be unlikely to be mentioned in the farmers accounts and the nature of the abbeys park needs to be understood. The vast commons and sheepwalks on the downs were the areas for the chase on horseback.

The park would have been a small deer park (hence, perhaps, the reference to carrying corn). It is quite possible that a small deer park was present throughout the Middle Ages before the establishment of a large park in the seventeenth century.

The history of Parham landscape during the later Middle Ages, is very sketchy, there seems to be little in the written resources to consult at the present time.

The principle buildings where at this time the two house of the Westminster and the Tregoz estates, they were thought to be on more than about 200 meters apart., and centred on the present-day church and manor house. In 1365-7 the Westminster Abbey buildings were said to comprise a thatched hall, with a chamber and kitchens: it is possible that these were the present east wing of the present Parham house, but a resent survey of this part of the building may conclude that is not the case, further work has yet to be undertaken.

The SMR records record the site of a deserted settlement immediately south east of the church, is stated that there were buildings there as late as 1778-9, and earthworks were present in 1873.

A geophysical survey undertaken in 1969 identified possible structures, a pit was dug, and thirteenth century pottery/fourteenth was excavated.

As in most locations early manor houses were usually very near churches, and often abandoned or converted to other uses as the owner ship of the estates changed hands.

It is very possible that the platform was the site of the Tregoz manorial centre and that the deserted settlement was a collection of later cottages.

There would have been other buildings associated with both the Westminster grange, and the Tregoz estate, the location of theses is not known.

The evidence for the removal of the village because hygiene (stated in documents of the period) is not convincing, the removal of the inhabitants’ to Rackam less so, as there is no evidence to date that a village was established there, except that a mill has stood in Rackham for a great many years (Rackham mill).There was a chapel there, but according to maps of the period, this was a ruin by 1724.

It is certain that the village was removed so that the estate could be imparked, the same applied at the estate at Wiston.

At this point in the history of the estate and the village, it worth looking at the state of villages before enclosure, and after enclosure, and what it meant for the families living in the village, and there employment and livelihood.

Hearth Tax may some bearing on Parham village.

The hearth tax was levied between 1662 and 1689 on each householder according to the number of hearths in his/her occupation. The administrators were required to compile lists of householders with the number of their hearths according to county.

Early demographers and political arithmeticians, such as Gregory King (d. 1712), recognized that returns to the hearth tax were a rich store of data, but it was not until the late 1960s that modern historians really focused on the value of the hearth tax for a range of enquiries. Historians have continued to draw upon it to assess distributions of population and the divisions between rich and poor in national and local contexts, and in association with other sources it can also be used to assess vernacular architecture, life cycles, population movements, patterns of employment, kinship and the family, and early modern local government jurisdictions.

Parham House Chapel

2008-01-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Parham house chapel, and Parham house priest hole.

Parham Map. 1742.

2008-01-14T14:40:00.000-08:00

From Richard Budgen's map of Sussex, 1724 The reference to the chapel seems to be referring to something just east of Rackham village itself. Overton's map of Sussex 1740 also shows the chapel, but clearly derives its information from Budgen. Could the buildings shown to the east of the big house at Parham be intended to represent Parham Street, ie. the main street of the village? They are shown separate to the House.
On further examination of the map, it is now thought that the possible three house shown next to the house, is in fact the church, although shown on the wrong side of the house.

Parham research update.

2008-01-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

There are many build types of cottages around in the period of the village at Parham, it is difficult to decide what type where at Parham. Various types are shown here.

James Bell, Oxford Univerisity

2008-01-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

Parham, extract from a book published in 1835, by James Bell, book in Oxford University. Below the quote as published in the book. Note population.

Parham a parish in west Easwrith hundred, rape of Arundel, co of Sussex, 6m.N,E, by N from Arundel. living, a discharged rectory in the archd, and dio, of Chichester, rated at £10, returned at £90. Patroness, 1829, Baroness Zouch. Church ded, to St.Peter-contains a leaden font of great antiquity.

Pop., in 1801, 51; in 1831, 46.A.P; £890.

Parham looking North taken from top of Downs.

2008-01-01T05:48:00.001-08:00

Click any photo to enlarge.

Latest research.

2007-12-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

Blacks guide to Sussex (Southeast) 1861(Re Parham entry).

It is noted from this guide written in 1861, “Park and village population stands at 55, the latter a cluster of cottages on the outskirts of the Hon Mr.Curzons noble domain 1861”

Is possible that the village had not been completely removed as had all thought to be the case

Parham. Year 1594, note this burial, Widow Duke on the common being excommunicated was laid in the churchyard on November 4^th...

New Photo.

2007-12-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

This old aerial photo, shows up some interesting features around the church, its worth copying it and blowing it up for more features that show up.
What is interesting are the various pathways leading to and from the church, this area around the church is almost certainly the site of the village,more research is needed.

Update Parham research.

2007-12-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

Update Parham research.

During the 1960s the Ha Ha that can be seen today in front of Parham house was constructed, during the excavating work a lot of pottery was discovered, it covered many periods from some late iron age pottery to Roman and through to Medieval and late 19^th century ware.

At present this pottery is stored at Parham, we plan over the coming winter months to examine this pottery, and then it is possible that it will give some information about periods of occupation in the area of the village. The site of the Ha Ha is within only a few hundred meters of the site of the village.

It is interesting that it was the late Con Ainsworh a local archaeologist, who undertook a watching brief of the building of the Ha Ha, and it is his name that appears on labels on the collection of pottery in store at Parham.

The other interesting bit of information is that he was given a very early map of the estate ,this it is understood marked the positions of the village, this map was not returned and has since been lost, but a line of investigation may reveal where it is !.

More to come.!

"Pear tree enclosure"

2007-12-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

The name of Parham is derived from the residence of its first bearers either in the parish of that name in the County of Sussex, or Suffolk, England. The name had its origin in the Old English 'per', having reference to the pear tree, and 'ham' or 'hamm' meaning "a piece of land, enclosure". Thus, the literal meaning of the name is "Pear tree Enclosure".

In Sussex the name was written Perham as early as A.D. 959 and as late as the thirteen century. Other early spellings of the name were Parhame, Pearham, Parram, Parrum, Parum, Param, Parhom, Parham,

St. Dunsten bought the "Pear enclosure" about 950 and gave it to the Abbey of Westminster, so perhaps there was a early church on site before the present building of 1150s !!.

Visit journal on line for more information about Parham village. Village life.

Parish records.

2007-12-03T01:53:00.000-08:00

Parish records, notes.

Registers seldom start as early as 1538.in Sussex Parham shares this earliest date with Birdham, Easebourne, Rudgwick, Stedham and Yapton.What the records show are that Parham was not such a poor village at the time of these early registers.

Sir Robert Palmer obtained the estate from Henry V111 in 1540 at the dissolution of the monasteries (Westminster in this case)

Though Robert lost his head through supporting Lady Jane Gray, his son Thomas consolidated the holding and built the great Elizabethan mansion there in 1577.

The village was at this point a thriving community, there being several gentlemen living there, some may have been friends of the family others were, prosperous tradesmen.

Some of the trades listed in these early records of the village, a miller, saddler, a tailor a smith, baker.

Between 1558 and 1599 it was recorded that there were some 318 baptisms, this being an average of about five per year over the 65 years, giving a population of around 150.

There were Epidemics and illness, and it affected all families, in 1557 not only George Shelley the rector died, but within a space of around fifty days Richard Shory lost his three daughters, Katherin, Annis and Jone.In 1583 a Jane Chancroft died of the plague.

This next extract from the records is interesting as it comes part way in explaining the true location of the village.

In 1575, a poor woman coming into the streets gave birth to a son who was christened Rychard. Did someone give her shelter?.

The village street was then close to the church but was later cleared away in the second half of the 18^th century, as being to close to the big house.

Another child was born in Mr Palmers barn, in 1583 Thomas Hall, a beggar child was buried in the churchyard.

There are many other interesting facts from the records, one being that a Richard Tupper was aged 105 years of age when he died in 1597, and the very strange remark at “Thos Weeks burial” in 1594 that he was a “natural child”( bourn out of wedlock) but “died a Christian with great sorrow for his sin”. It was not his fault!

How long people lived in Parham is impossible to know with any accuracy. By looking at the baptisms and corresponding burials, it is clear that six out of ten children survived, some to die later before reaching the age of 21 years. Childbirth was a great risk at this time, and it does not appear from the records that families were large.

What is interesting is that in the present churchyard there are no early graves visible, so was the grave yard at some point made smaller, thus what you now see are only the later family members of the great house buried there, just as the village was removed , thus the graves also of its inhabitants were removed.!

Given that the population of the village was at some points up to around 150 inhabitants, then there would have been a substantial number of burials in the church yard.

What is coming clear from the research is that the lost village of Parham, is not really lost, but survives in and round the present church, the village street being close to the church.

With resistivity it should be possible to locate the street, if this work does indeed find the village street, and then it should be possible to locate the dwellings of the inhabitants.

At the time of the Domesday survey (1086) the manor contained 600 acres of arable and sixteen families-probably less than 100 souls. What remained of the village, scattered about the church, was pulled down in 1778-9.Now there are 279 acres of woodland,320 acres of park,360 of downland, 295 acres of arable.

The Abbot of Westminster’s premises are described in a document of 1356/7 as consisting of a thatched hall with a chamber and kitchen, and a grange. There is some evidence that the stone walls of this or a subsequent building are incorporated in the east side of the one built in 1577.

The Abbots usually leased their houses to tenants, retaining certain manorial dues, and it this to which there are references to the Palmers possessing between 1540 and 1577.

Cottage in Parham park.

2007-11-30T03:04:00.000-08:00

The plan of the house shows the 1350s build.(outlined in black

The picture of the house dates from 1770,by Grimm.

Estate Cottage at the south entrance to Parham park, Parham. Single storey stone building. Brick quoins and window dressing. Brick chimney, tile roofing. Building renovated in 1952.Needs to be dated to its construction date.

Latest information.

2007-11-22T09:57:00.001-08:00

Parham House.

Country house constructed in 1577 incorporating part of earlier fortified house. The main front of the house is E-shaped. It is constructed of stone rubble and ashlar with a Horsham slab roof. Additions were carried out in 1870.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

It is interesting that this house may at some point been a fortified manor house, or even a Palace, lot more reserach is needed.

There is no map or plan in the Parham archives that shows the position
of the lost village. It is because we have no information about its
whereabouts that we asked if the Worthing Archaeological Society could
do some geophysical work on the site, possibly followed up by
excavation. The only early map we have is an estate map drawn up
between 1750 and 1779 which shows only the odd barn and hovel, and the
stables that were demolished in 1779.

The documentary evidence we have is restricted to a note made by a
descendant of Sir Cecil Bysshopp, 7th Baronet, who stated that he
pulled down what remained of the village, the old stables which lay to
the south-east of the house, and planned the quadrangle of offices and
stables to the north. He died in September 1779. The assumption is
that the village was already in decay by then and that the villagers
had decamped earlier over a period of time.

The estate map is framed and hanging on a wall between the entrance
hall and the shop at Parham House.

Sussex Notes and Queries Vol 15 pp 314-315 - at TQ/059141 which states that the arch classification is "Poor (Vague bumps making no certain pattern)" and history classification "small quantity of documentary evidence for village's former existence but period of desertion not known". And in SAC 25 William Durrant Cooper states "... "and in the park are the remains of a considerable village, of large gardens, a parsonage house, and several meadows, pulled down or altered by former possessors."

Research notes.

2007-11-18T06:35:00.001-08:00

Landscape park, pleasance and gardens to Parham. The park was first documented in 1628 and was partly landscaped circa 1778-9 with a lake to the south of the house and plantations and perimeter tree planting. Woodland is present to north of the house. The pleasance also contains a small lake, is laid out with lawns and planted with specimen trees and shrubs which merge into the park. The gardens are late 18th century in date and include a walled garden containing its original layout of walks, an orchard and an orangery. A terrace at the south front of the house is laid out with parterres and statues.

Post Medieval

Deer Park 1628

Post Medieval

Garden Terrace 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Orangery 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Orchard 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Parterre 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Statue 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Walled Garden 1767 to 1799

Post Medieval

Lake 1778 to 1779

Post Medieval

Landscape Park 1778 to 1779

Post Medieval

Lawn 1778 to 1779

Post Medieval

Plantation 1778 to 1779

Post Medieval

Pleasance 1778 to 1779

Post Medieval

Wood 1778 to 1779

Short History of Parham.

2007-11-06T07:17:00.001-08:00

Parham .

A short history.

The property, originally owned by the Monastery of Westminster, was granted by King Henry VIII in 1540 to Robert Palmer whose son Sir Thomas decided to build a new dwelling. In 1577 the foundation stone of the present house was laid by Sir Thomas's two-and-a-half year old grandson, another Thomas, who sold the estate in 1601 to Thomas Bysshopp. His descendant, Sir Cecil Bysshopp, became the 12th Lord Zouche in 1816 and Parham remained with the family through the Curzon connection into the 20th Century.

Then in 1922 Parham Park was purchased by the younger son of Viscount Cowdray, The Hon. Clive Pearson and his wife Alicia, daughter of Lord Brabourne. In 1948, after the Second World War when Parham had also been home to evacuee children from London and to Canadian soldiers, Mr and Mrs Pearson opened Parham to the public and were amongst the first to show their house regularly in the post-war years. They were followed in this tradition by their eldest daughter, Veronica Tritton, who devoted her life to Parham. Lady Emma Barnard, elder daughter of the Countess and of the late Earl of Iveagh, is Mr and Mrs Pearson's great-grand-daughter. Mrs Tritton's great-niece.

Mr and Mrs Pearson spent more than 40 years carefully restoring Parham and filling it with a sensitively chosen collection of beautiful furniture, paintings and textiles, also acquiring items originally in the house. The range of portraits is especially notable. There are many rugs and carpets and a particularly important collection of early needlework.

What they created at Parham is a rare survival of mid 20th-Century connoMr and Mrs Pearson were also responsible for the form of the gardens seen at Parham today. The four-acre walled garden includes a Wendy House and an apple orchard. Its large mixed borders and greenhouses are principally devoted to the growing of flowers and plants for the house. Mrs Pearson began the tradition of making arrangements to harmonise with the colours in the rooms. The 18th century Pleasure Grounds extend to seven acres and include a lake, many specimen trees and spring bulbs, swings and a brick and turf maze.

Parham house and gardens are surrounded by some 875 acres of working agricultural and forestry land. This includes 300 acres of ancient park in which fallow deer roam - descendants of the original herd first mentioned in 1628.

Now owned by a Charitable Trust, the house, gardens and park are administered by a Council of Management charged with their care and with the duty of continuing to open Parham to the public.