£36.50 (Non JG member)
Overview
Parham is one of the country’s finest Elizabethan houses, set at the foot of the South Downs in West Sussex. This beautiful place has changed little over the centuries and remains a family home. Parham is filled with a sensitively chosen collection of furniture, paintings, books, textiles and clocks. The family also acquired interesting items which had once been at Parham or had a historical or family association with the House. The portraits are particularly notable, and there are many very fine rugs and carpets. 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. In the 1940s, Alicia Pearson insisted on having flowers all through the House for the enjoyment of visitors. We still follow this tradition, and sometimes as many as thirty buckets of flowers and greenery are brought in for arranging. The Gardens at Parham 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 old four-acre 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. We enjoy a free flow house tour and garden visit. We suggest you bring a picnic as Parham regrets that pre-booked catering for groups will not be available this year. Food and drink will be available on a take-away basis from the Mower Shed in the Parham gardens, provided by The Naked Food Company