Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge, is 32 miles (50 km) to the south east of London, and was built in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney , 'from the first-not so much a castle as a country residence that could be defended in an emergency': A Oswald 'Country houses of Kent'.

Penshurst: or pen's wood as a name is derived from 'a wooded hill within an enclosed place' and as such was known as Penshurst by 1072. Between 1263-1346 the manor appears as Penecestre or Penchester, a name adopted by Stephen de Penecestre Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, who possessed the manner towards the end of the 13th century.

The river Medway, at this point still only a small stream passes through the village of Penshurst, the long standing residence of the Sidney family, descended from William de Sidney, chamberlain to Henry II.

(The Sidney family originate from Anjou, whence sir William came with Henry II: GOUGH.)

In 1552, King Edward VI granted the house to Sir William Sidney, grandfather of the Sir Philip Sidney, who was born there, by virtue of his mothers association with nothumberland, the kings chief executor, and brother to Mary sydney, the childs mother.

Phillip and Robert Sidney were granted lands and title of the Barons of Sidney of Penshurst, these were the sons of Philip Sidney who married Mary Dudley , sister of the 'evil' Duke of Northumberland.

Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst Place in 1554. He was buried in old St Paul's, in London, having died 25 days after a fatal wounding from a bullet in the thigh at the battle of Zutphen , but his tomb was destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666.

The present owner, Philip Sidney, Lord De L'isle, by birth a Shelley has, against the recomendations of his kin, of late celebrated 450 years of continuous occupation of the dwelling by this gift, to his decendants. The castlated manor house is surrounded by one of England's oldest private gardens, dating back to 1346, although small at 11 acres (45,000 m²) the garden was created by Sir Henry Sidney in the C16th.

The male line of the Sidney family became extinct after Jocelyn Sidney, the 7th Earl of Leicester died in 1743, and the sons of Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester, also died without male heirs. Penshurst Place thus passed through Elizabeth Sidney (1713-1781), the daughter of Thomas Sidney and Mary Reeve to William Perry (her spouse).

Penshurst Place thus passed to Perry's daughter Elizabeth Jane, who later wed Sir Bysshe Shelley, grandfather of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, himself a descendent of one of the grand-daughters of William Sidney.

Shelley was thus able to obtain royal permission for his descendents to adopt the name and crest of Sidney. It was his son John Shelley who began to use the name of Sidney, changing his name to Shelley-Sidney. His son, Philip Sidney, 1st Lord De L'Isle and Dudley (1800-1851) then dropped Shelley competely from the name. The incumbent Sidney line of Penshurst Place are therefore in reality Shelleys by origin, but by this relationship the house retains a link with the Sidney family.

The great Barons' Hall, remains now but a shell with its chestnut roof reaching to 60 foot (18 m) in height with the hall having been reinterpreted in its numerous architectural styles having been added to during at least eight periods of dwelling but has remained intact from its most recent (Victorian) innovation.

Portraits, tapestries, furniture, porcelain and armor acquired by successive generations.

External link

Penhurst Place - official site