Parham is a quietly beautiful Elizabethan house. Large but not grand, prepossessing but not pretentious, it stands on a fold in the Downs between Pulborough and Storrington in West Sussex. Parham has been the home of only three families. First, the Palmers who built it. Second, the Bysshopps who ennobled it. And third, the Pearsons who saved it. The manor had belonged since medieval times to the abbey at Westminster. When the monastery was dissolved in 1540, King Henry VIII granted the holding to Robert Palmer, a London mercer with Sussex connections. He lived in the original house, as did his son Sir Thomas, until the latter decided to build a larger property; on 28th January 1577 its foundation stone was laid by his two-and-half year old grandson, also Thomas.
The old house was demolished and upon its foundations was erected the present building, considerably extended to include, for example, the Great Hall and the Long Gallery. Young Thomas inherited Parham in 1586 and subsequently made a name for himself at sea; with Drake and Hawkins at Porto Rico, his successful command of a ship at Cadiz led to his being knighted 1596. Restless and unhappy, he leased Parham to Thomas Bysshopp, finally selling it to him in 1601. The Palmers seem to have had Catholic sympathies and with the advent of King James, Sir Thomas decided to settle in Spain at Valladolid.
Granted a baronetcy in 1620, the Bysshopps occupied Parham on and off for the next two centuries. The 2nd baronet, Edward, was a glamorous figure, a Royalist and second-in-command of the forces that captured Arundel and laid successful siege to its castle in 1644; he was imprisoned in the Tower of London from where he conducted a spirited campaign to lessen his fines and regain his estates.
It was Sir Cecil Bysshopp, the 8th Baronet, who was the next to make a significant impression upon Parham. His father had swept away the remains of the village and built new stables, Mulberry Court, nearer the house. Inheriting in 1779, Sir Cecil raised the Parham Troop of yeomanry during the Revolutionary Wars, laid out the pleasure grounds, restored the park and added the tower to the church. His ambitions reached a climax when he established his claim, through his mother's family, to an ancient barony and became the 12th Lord Zouche. Before his death in 1828, he created the neo-classical Saloon at Parham and placed the coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth in the Great Hall - to commemorate her visit in 1593.
The house and title then pased through the female line to Robert Curzon, 14th Lord Zouche, a romantic and scholarly personality, who travelled widely and collected manuscripts and antiquities including armour. His sense of history led to his gothicising the north entrance to the house; he was likewise responsible for the neo-gothic appearance of the laundry or office wing overlooking Fountain Court. He brought to Parham the lead figure of a River God that faces across the Fish Pond. It is also tempting to see his work in the magnificent cedars and oaks scattered throughout the park.
In 1922, the 17th Baroness Zouche decided to leave Parham and sold it to the Hon. Clive Pearson, second son of the 1st Viscount Cowdray. It is to Clive and his wife Alicia, youngest daughter of Lord Brabourne, that we owe Parham as we see it today. They were a remarkable couple: he a successful engineer in his own right; she sensitive and knowledgeable about the arts. The house they bought was more or less empty and its fabric in urgent need of repair. Quietly and carefully they acquired for the house things that it "needed and liked" including items that had formerly belonged there. The building was also brought back to superb condition and meticulously restored.
The gardens were remade into their present delightful form and Mrs Pearson began the practice of filling the rooms with harmonious arrangements of plants and flowers. Visitors have been able to enjoy these since 1948 when the house was first opened to the public.
It seems to by typical of this unassuming couple, and their quiet pride in their achievement, that they decided to make their own mark on the house by asking their friend Oliver Messel to design and decorate a new ceiling for the Long Gallery - there being no trace of the original.
In another way however, Clive and Alicia Pearson created a collection that in total is now more or less unique: they bought pictures, furniture, rugs, needlework and other works of art that together represents an era of opportunity in the second quarter of 20th century that can never be regained. If nothing else, the ensemble typifies the extreme importance of Parham today.
Their work was continued by their eldest daughter Veronica Tritton, who dedicated her life to the house and through whose benefaction it is now possible to bring to a successful conclusion her long-expressed wish that it all be preserved. The house and gardens are entrusted to a Council of Management (of which I am a member) which has now been joined by Lady Emma Barnard, Veronica's great-niece and Parham's new chatelaine.
With the aim of securing the financial future of the house and gardens, Christie's auction has been arranged. Everything at Parham is of extraordinary quality and this is reflected in what is to be sold from there. Mr and Mrs Pearson brought or acquired very many things, old and new, often in quantities that are no longer necessary for modern living. Neither can they be properly cared for, or displayed. The opportunities presented to buyers therefore, are unlikely ever to be repeated - certainly with this provenance and on this scale.
David Coombs7.3.96
Monday 13th May 1996
Morning Session
at 10.30am.
Pictures
After Angelica Kauffman
Classical Figures in a Woodland
Details
After Angelica Kauffman
Classical Figures in a Woodland
and CLASSICAL FIGURES BY A TOMB
by P Bettelini, stipple engravings
P. 10 x 12¾in. (25.4 x 32.3cm.)a pair (2)
Classical Figures in a Woodland
and CLASSICAL FIGURES BY A TOMB
by P Bettelini, stipple engravings
P. 10 x 12¾in. (25.4 x 32.3cm.)a pair (2)