Petworth House

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Petworth House in Sussex is on the edge of the small market town, though it manages to create its own serene world. The property belonged originally to the Percy family, from whom it passed to the Wyndhams, earls of Egremont, via the 6th duke of Somerset. Somerset rebuilt the house in the 1690s, the architect remaining unknown. The long west front gives directly onto the park, landscaped by Capability Brown, with the south downs in the distant background. The 3rd earl of Egremont gave hospitality to Turner, many of whose paintings are preserved at Petworth, along with others by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Wilson, Zoffany, and Opie.

J. A. Cannon