Hewitt's History Files

THE CRUCIAL early-20th century restoration work on a West Sussex gem of Elizabethan architecture is explored in a fascinating new study. An architectural survey was the principal intention behind the project, but inevitably social history came into it too.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Apr 2009, 13:17 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 04:06 BST

The result is a new book revealing the hidden secrets of Parham House at Storrington.

Work completed by academics, specialist researchers and dedicated volunteers informs Parham: An Elizabethan House And Its Restoration, written by Kirdford-based Jayne Kirk.

With a foreword by Sir Simon Jenkins, it tells the story of the house and the three families who have lived in it over the past 400 years.

A precious archive of drawings, letters and other papers, combined with specially-commissioned studies of the roof, decorative plasterwork and panelling have revealed much about changes to the fabric of the house.

Professional and volunteer archaeologists have searched the park for traces of the monastic grange and village that once stood somewhere within it. Personal recollections have completed the picture.

For full story and pictures see West Sussex Gazette April 8

Work