Immerse yourself in history, culture, and natural beauty on a day out in Petworth. There's plenty to keep to entertained, with historic streets lined with antique shops, cafes, and art galleries. There's also the National Trust's Petworth House, set amidst sprawling parklands.
Where is Petworth?
Petworth is a historic market town located in West Sussex, England, nestled within the South Downs National Park. It's approximately 20 miles northwest of Brighton and around 50 miles southwest of London.
Visit Petworth House
A magnificent Treasure House displaying one of the largest National Trust art collections, including artwork by Van Dyck, Turner, Reynolds and Gainsborough.
Film fans will love spotting the locations that featured in several scenes in Ridley Scott’s biopic, Napoleon, while nature-lovers can enjoy roaming around the 700-acre deer park.
Petworth House and Park, Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 9LR.
For opening times and prices, visit the National Trust's website, or become a member to enjoy free entry into over 500 National Trust properites, as well as free parking.
Where to eat in Petworth
The Star
Gastro pub in the heart of the town, dating back to 1591.
The Star, Market Square, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 0AH. 01798 368114.
Where to stay in Petworth
The Angel Inn Hotel
An historic coach house three minutes walk from the market square and town centre of Petworth.
Angel Street, Petworth GU28 0BG. 01798 344445.
Badgers Pub with rooms
A privately owned freehouse with three rooms.
Badgers, Coultershaw Bridge, Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0JF. 01798 342 651.
Petworth - the 'Antiques Centre of the South'
Author and journalist, Stephanie Cross, shares her experience hunting for antiques in Petworth:
A thunderstorm is prowling the downs on the day I visit Petworth, and slate-blue skies threaten. But this small Sussex market town is made for iffy weather: there’s magnificent countryside to explore when the sun is shining, and when it isn’t, a wealth of treasure-filled shops beckon you in.
PAADA – the Petworth Art and Antique Dealers Association – has helped put Petworth on the bargain-hunting map. At the centre of it all is cobbled Lombard Street, home to eight PAADA members, and it’s here that I begin my day with a visit to Chequers Antiques. To the accompaniment of countless ticking clocks and a dainty chorus of chimes, I light upon a set of Old Sheffield Plate eggcups – at £90 rather more budget-friendly than the elaborate £1,359 silver-plated 1850s candelabra that also catches my eye.
GO ROUND-THE-HILLS
A few doors down, at Kevis House Gallery, a demonstration of wood engraving is underway, while at Tallulah Fox, opposite, I find antique hand-painted furniture and contemporary homewares. The stock ranges from elegant glazed armoires to oystershell mantelpiece garlands, and the shop's website is updated weekly with new arrivals.
There’s more to Petworth than antiques, however. An independent bookshop, a cottage museum and cafés galore make for a lively community feel, and there’s also a top-notch deli, The Hungry Guest, where piles of floury artisan loaves masquerade as a Dutch still life.
At the eastern limit of the town, just beyond Sacred Heart, the impressive Roman Catholic church, is the Shimmings Valley. A footpath leads to the small hamlet of Byworth, but even if time is scarce, be sure to take the short asphalt path (known as ‘Round-the-Hills’) which leads from the church and skirts the valley’s lip. As the first frosts start to set the woods on fire and wintering polo ponies drowse in their paddocks, it’s hard to imagine a more dramatically beautiful prospect than this.
OFF THE MARKET
Back in the town I head for the Antiques Market, which hosts over 35 antique and decorative arts dealers under one roof. It’s the kind of place where an afternoon can easily vanish in a flash of silver spoons and side tables (or, if you’re like me, rings and rocking horses).
Knowledgeable traders are on hand to advise, and there’s the opportunity to engage in more extensive brain-picking at a monthly ‘market clinic’.
My final stop is the handsome Georgian townhouse premises of Augustus Brandt Antiques. This is a place to dream, full of fairytale pieces: 18th-century Italian console tables, chandeliers and gilt-framed mirrors begging to be taken home. One day, I tell myself. One day…