Petworth - An English country getaway

Where to go:

Petworth House

With an extraordinary collection of art, the 900-year history of the Percy family, and 70 acres of parkland where is also home to hundreds of fallow deer, Petworth House is a must-see for anyone who is interested in English history, art and landscapes.

The story of the house goes back to mid-1100s, when Adeliza of Louvain, the widow of King Henry I (1100-1135), gave the manor of Petworth to her brother Joscelin of Louvain, who later married the Percy heiress and adopted the surname Percy. His descendants became the Earls of Northumberland, the most powerful family in northern England.

Since then, it has been home to branches of this family. Petworth was completely rebuilt as a palatial baroque mansion after the marriage of Elizabeth Percy (1667-1722), and her third husband Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset in 1682.

Lady Elizabeth was the sole heiress of Joceline Percy, the 11th Earl of Northumberland, which made her a desirable bride. She married three times, all arranged by her grandmother.

At the age of 12, she married the 20-year-old Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle (1659 – 1680), the only son and heir of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. He died the following year and the couple had no children.

At the age of 14, she married again, to Thomas Thynne (died 1682) of Longleat, Wiltshire, known as "Tom of Ten Thousand" due to his great wealth. Lady Elizabeth was deeply distressed by this arrangement, pleading that "there may be more sin and shame in people's living together than in parting". In 1681 she fled to the Netherlands, seeking ways to free herself from the marriage with Thynne, and the following year he was murdered.

Count Karl Johann Konigsmark, an admirer of Elizabeth, had reputedly hired a group of assailants to assassinate Thynne. The assailants were executed but Konigsmark was acquitted and left England.

Lady Elizabeth denied any knowledge of the plot. It is said that King Charles II (1630-1685) bribed the judges to help her.

Five months after the death of Thomas Thynne, at the age of 15, Lady Elizabeth married for the third time, to 20-year-old Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. It is said this marriage was also unhappy.

From 1710 to 1714 Lady Elizabeth was Mistress of the Robes and one of the closest confidantes of Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1714. Today, the house is owned by the National Trust, but the descendants of the Percy family still live here.