General: Petworth House (National Trust)

We joined the National Trust this year as we do like to visit places, so in a bid to get our moneys worth went to Petworth house couple of weekends ago. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth/

Weather forecast was good, so of course on the journey down it poured with rain ! We were thinking we might only look at the house rather than the gardens... but in the end by the time we got there it was bright and warm.

There is a pleasant walk to the house itself from the car park and entering the house you are struck by the grandness of the place (makes sense I suppose) The house didn't take that long to look around, although we could have spent more time looking around had we wanted to study the artifacts in each room more carefuly (especailly the north gallery which is crammed with statues and paintings) For us it was nice to just see the rooms and pick out a few items to look at more closely. Having done the house, we went across the courtyard to the Servants Quarters which now also houses the shop and resteraunts, but it was the Old Kitchens which was facinating to see. You wonder how they got the time to do anything in those days, everything was done by hand and with some very odd looking implements !

Coming out to the gardens, there was extensive grounds so we walked down to the lake and round to the boathouse. It was a bit wind and chilly outside as the landscape was quite open, but this made for fantastic views from the hill top. There are also herds of deer running around which is quite interesting. They are not frightened of humans so you almost have to barge your way through them if you come across a herd.

After visiting the house and gardens, we walked into Petworth villge itself (the house is on the outskirts of the village) It is an old village and a pleasant walk around. Not many interesting shops but plenty of oppertunity to eat or drink if required and very picturesk

We had a very nice day trip out and feel like we have got some culture now :-)