The Saucy Victorian Aristocrat Who Fathered Over 40 Children | Historic Britain | Absolute History

this channel is part of the history hits Network the grand Petworth House in West Sussex is no ordinary stately Mansion because Within These Walls is one of the finest collections of Art and sculpture on display at any country house anywhere in the UK so good it seemed peckless labeled the house of art this was all possible because of its Visionary owner George Windham the third Earl of egremont whose relationship with artists jmw Turner would usher in petworth's Golden Age the most unconventional of aristocrats he turned his house into a great Inn filling it with artists an Eclectic mix of guests and a host of Mistresses is rumored to have fathered more than 40 children I'll be going behind the scenes to reveal the gossip behind the Earl's many Mistresses the man was a scoundrel digging deep to find the hidden Brilliance behind one of these Affairs so it's not on display so this is really secret yes as I get Hands-On Steady As She Goes I'm really scared and under the surface I'm in a scene which is a couple of hundred years out it's magical isn't it to reveal just why Petworth house Remains the artistic jewel in the National Trust Crown this is a masterpiece and how it was all made possible by the most remarkable of aristocrats also coming up Peter Purvis is on a Chichester Canal exploring one of the enterprising Earl's more challenging schemes what kind of loss was the Earl experiencing somewhere around four or five million oh my goodness and Jenny bond is in Devon wow dropping into the home of two inspirational women I'm fascinated by The Grand Tour who helped rewrite the 18th century rule book bold and impersonate maid oh my goodness [Music] but in West Sussex it was the combination of petworth's creatively charged atmosphere together with the third Earl's patronage that would result in some of the world's greatest masterpieces being produced under this roof oh imposing hauler this is where you want to greet your guests isn't it more about the man and petworth's fascinating story I'm being joined by the trusts Andrew laux in the marble Hall what was this place like in the third Earl's time what did it felt like well it was a very sociable place but also a quite a cultured place as well with so many artists and so on staying here it must have been a very Lively atmosphere so who's the biggest name well we had Constable staying here but probably the artist who is most closely associated with the house is Turner who came many times Joseph Mallard William Turner the big one jmw that's him absolutely so his painting's still here there are 20 oil paintings by him here 20 Turners in one house it's the largest collection of Turners to be found outside of a national museum I need to see one or more well one of them actually hangs in part of the house where the current lordegremont and his family still continue to live so that's the private bit absolutely we're loud in yes Turner is widely recognized as the greatest landscape painter of all time a child prodigy who first came to Petworth in 1809 aged 34. Turner and the third Earl would enjoy a lifelong relationship while the artist would be forever inspired by the house and its surrounding landscape the chance for a secret viewing of this Master's work is too good to pass up it's always such a great treat to be allowed into the private bit that's actually lived in and this is it this is the pain to the turn so this is Turner's famous view of the house from across the lake with its title dewy morning it shows the house early one morning with the sunrise in the distance and the Dew just lifting from the house at the West front you almost feel as though you're in the painting don't you and you've got this translucent slightly pale salmon pink tinted Sky you can feel the sun beginning to burn its way through the cloud and this is what really excited the critics when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1810 the critical press were very much appreciative of Turner's rendition of light and particularly the way in which he's captured this this moment in the morning and that view is the same today as it was then church Spire has gone in fact it wasn't there when Turner painted it Turner painted it during a subsequent visit it's absolutely possible to to go out and see that view exactly as Turner captured this this moment in the morning can we go and have a look yeah we need to get onto the lake but to do that we'd need to go to The Boathouse and we can get on the boat yes I'm up for that okay let's do it history hit is like Netflix just for history fans with exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you whether you're looking to dive into life and crime in Victorian London or the Forgotten history that deserves to be heard history hit has a documentary for you just a click away we're committed to Bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you can't find anywhere else sign up now for a free trial and absolute history fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code absolute history at checkout the park at Petworth which was so beloved of Turner was installed by the second Earl and was the creation of groundbreaking landscape architect capability Brown [Music] from the mansion's palatial West front he transformed the great expanse of grass into slopes that rolled towards the serpentine Lake in the middle distance creating the illusion that the park keeps unfolding for Miles so would this have in the boat house that was here when Tony was here yes it was built by the third old in the late 18th century your own stone-built Boathouse on your own Lake oh gosh this is really exciting yeah so this is definitely not on the visitor route this is very special accessory and we've got to get in here now this is perilous right who's rowing uh how are your skills how are yours uh probably not as good as yours oh gosh don't say that well if you get in the back we're supposed to be going into America so right we're gonna push ourselves out now okay yeah not the most graceful of exits I'll accept but once you're on the water you can see why Turner was so inspired by This Magnificent View Morning View yeah yeah so he would have come out here on his boat yeah fishing fishing wonderful uh tell me if I need to go left or right a little bit to your right I need to go somewhere right you're the you see that's it yeah we got it my goodness me so Turner would have come out on this Lake to paint the house well he would have come out here to get some views of the house all the painting was done in his Studio but what we know about Turner is he was a great fisherman and he absolutely fished on this Lake as did some of the other artists but what you can see in Turner's painting is fishing boats taking fish out of the lake in Nets and they were of course intended for consumption in the house it's rather wonderful to feel that I'm sitting in a boat almost exactly on the spot where Turner would perhaps to make sketches certainly to get inspiration of petwas and I'm in a scene which is you know a couple of hundred years out it's magical isn't it yeah and Turner was what was an oarsman rowing around here would be no problem too oh the better than I am probably I don't know about that you're doing pretty well I'm gonna go for a pool now I'm gonna have a turn of moment see if I can keep up with the van watch out we don't get grounded Petworth house found Fame across the 18th and 19th century when the third Earl of egremont bucked usual aristocratic Traditions with his generous patronage of modern British art but then Lord egramon was the man who made his own rules fathering a reputed 43 children and remarkably having many of them living here with him I'm meeting family archivist Alison McCann who can shed some light on this most unusual of domestic arrangements and the secret science behind its success such a lovely on this I mean Alice what was the atmosphere like here in the time of the Third Hill I think it was absolutely packed with people that were the family of the children the grandchildren the nephews the nieces visitors and of course all the artists who also brought their families must have been seething some people loved it they thought it was wonderful and some people really thought they didn't want to mix with the artists and people like that but it seemed to work the arrangement certainly for the Earl yes well I think he was responsible for the fact that it did work the Lord's relaxed approach to housekeeping also attracted its fair share of stately gossip nothing will convince lady Spencer that Lord agreement is not 43 children the wall living house with him and their respective mothers and Make Scenes worthy of billingsgate or a mad house 43 I can't get that many I found 16. Oh by how many mothers nine these Mistresses I hear about there was the Italian opera singer he picked up on the grand tour in Italy he took her as far as Paris where he dropped her because he'd met Manzel du Tay very well known French courtesan there is Lady Melbourne of course whose mistress he was and he probably fathered three of her children at least possibly four is that Lord Melbourne's lady Melbourne yes right the mother of the Prime Minister the prime minister is egremont's son that man was a scoundrel no it's just the way they behaved at the time I wonder if I'd get away with that although the third Earl was famous for his numerous flirtations there was one lady who held a special place in his heart who was the resident mistress this is Elizabeth I live who lived here with her children by the Earl what was so special about Elizabeth I think she was probably the most interesting of his Mistresses she was obviously very intelligent so he fell in love with her mind yes I'm sure he did did he never marry yes eventually after eight children he married Elizabeth I live why did he choose to marry her she was interested in art and they had that in common she was interested in science and we've actually got the evidence of some of her scientific activities up in the attic if you'd like to see it really yeah come on secret places [Music] strictly out of bounds to the public in the private side of the house petworth's attic rooms are full of hidden items which reveal Elizabeth's brilliant mind there's not many people come up here gosh Rock samples glass cases oh gosh so what are these this is Elizabeth I Live's laboratory equipment all stored up here in the Attic yes it's not on display so this is really secret yes what's this some kind of pump air pump right I mean things like this Guinea and feather apparatus where you put a guinea on one of the little handles and the feather on the other you took the air out and then you let them fall and they both came down at the same speed because it was a vacuum oh so was it was it Arty tricks then for the shoes after dinner guests oh no she was very practical as well if you look in the book there you'll see what else she invented the Society of Arts what do we got here the crossbar lever yes they were doing a lot of work um lowering the lawn out there and finding these huge Stones they had to move so this is what she invented yes because she watched the workmen all trying to stand on the end of a long piece of wood to lever the stone up so shoot very practically put the appliance of science to what yes made that the the rock is on here the men stand on there and pull on that so they're much more secure and up this comes yes and she got a silver medal yes and there's the metal well I never gosh to Mrs Windham 1796 that's the year after so she sends this into the Society of Arts they're impressed they give her a medal yes Allison how unusual is this for a woman in the 1790s fairly unusual because she got her medal from the mechanics section good for her yes absolutely so the Turner paintings fed the minds of the people inside but the crossbar lever saved the backs of the workers outside yes she actually says it was much appreciated by the Workman I'm Billy Moss did the marriage last unfortunately no oh only a couple of years and then they actually separated the reason why it failed she said that he was unfaithful to her and with people around her but was he likely to change habits of a lifetime no unlikely but then as somebody said famously in the 20th century you marry the mistress you create a vacancy oh dear the third Earl might not have been renowned for his marital Fidelity but he's rightly celebrated for his Devotion to funding the Arts Oz Clark is in Oxford on the trail of another generous benefactor one from much humbler Origins who gave away 700 million pounds in today's money into health and medical research I'm here to ReDiscover one of Britain's greatest philanthropists as someone who spent a lifetime plowing his vast Fortune into causes close to his heart now he was a gifted mechanic he was a great innovator and he was hugely famous in his own lifetime but now he's in danger of being forgotten I'm talking about William Morris known later as Lord nuffield the car designer whose original name decorates this beauty I'm driving today I'm dropping in on his former home to meet National Trust volunteer John Owen welcome to Northfield Place thank you very much to learn more about the man behind the machine I remember these Morris miners from when I was a kid people of my generation of course will have learned to drive on one of those what was so special about it though they look good they drove easily and of course they were priced at the middleman Market made its maker a vast Fortune that's right he was certainly the 10th richest man in the world not bad for a man who left school at 14 and started his working life as an apprentice at his local Cycle Works despite amassing huge wealth and gaining a title along the way Lord nuffield wasn't a man for Pomp and ceremony preferring to give vast sums of money away to help others as house Stuart Joanna Gamester explains hello hello I'm Oz I'm Joanna pleased to meet you I am amazed at how modestly Morris seems seems to have lived it's reflected everywhere in the house I mean coming into this bedroom it does not look like the bedroom of a very wealthy man his taste was for Simplicity and for not spend Place using that as a sort of bed head and above the bed he's rigged up his own lamp it's upside down yes that's right but obviously that worked well for the way he wanted the light to shine on his book another thing that tells you about his frugality is the carpet if I lift this you'll see more than we usually show because we usually protect it as it's extremely precious and unique it's still some beige gray yes well the color has faded over the years but it was actually a sort of gold color which was often used in Motorcars thank goodness there's a bit of gold around it if I open these doors here you will see surprisingly this is Lord enough Fields little workshop it's every School Boy's dream workshop he would mend his clocks and also he mended his own shoes there's a shoe last multi-millionaire many his own shoes with stick-on rubber soles yes amazing despite being so Thrifty in his personal life Lord nuffield was one of the world's most generous men over the years he gave away more than 30 million pounds the equivalent of 700 million in today's money with the majority of the cash going into medical research and health care now I know that William Morris gave an enormous amount of his fortune to Medical projects but what's on a project he gave money to hospital started small local Oxfordshire hospitals and then later larger National hospitals and there are enough field hospitals and Wards all over the country this is something else that he gave money for which helped to save lives an iron lung gracious my dad was a a chest physician he used to talk about these these incredible Contraptions designed to help patients breathe when their lungs had failed were considered state-of-the-art in their day Lord in the fields heard a story about a little boy who died of polio because an iron lung couldn't be got to him in time he knew car factories can pretty well make anything so he decided that he would get his Factory workers to make them he made 5 000 or so all together and you can tell they were made in the car factory because there's a little clue they've got car handles on the portholes ah that is amazing I feel as if I've been granted an extraordinary insight into the life of an unsung hero Lord nuffield he has to be regarded as possibly the biggest philanthropist that the UK's ever seen now he may not be a household name nowadays but so many of us know the name nuffield in association with hospitals or with health care or education so despite the generous genius no longer being with us his legacy lives on while Lord nuffield was driven by more scientific desires back at Petworth house the third Earl of egremont was Keen to use his resources to support his more creative Passions Petra's house was home to the unconventional Aristocrat George Windham third Earl of egremont who lived an extraordinary life he was a generous patron of British art and this saw him open his doors to the artists themselves I'm sitting in a boat where Eternal to get the inspiration of petwis it's magical isn't it yeah and line its walls with the great works they produced I'm back with the trusts Andrew laux who's taking me to the north gallery that remains as glorious as it was in its early 19th century heyday Goodness Me this isn't an art gallery it's a museum sculpt everywhere paintings everywhere this is something else it's extremely unusual this was the very first Art Gallery anywhere to combine paintings and sculpture but also modern work with historic work this must be a collection of tremendous value or hugely not only because of the the third and second doors of aggromond the family at Petworth has been collecting works of Arts since the 17th century is there one work above all others that you think is the sort of prize in the way of pet was collection well in terms of the third Earl of aggromont there's one work of art which he regarded as his most important commission and you can't miss it it's one of the biggest things in here it's this colossal sculpture wow this magnificent work commissioned by the third early in 1817 was created by John flaxman a leading figure in European neoclassicism it took nine years to complete but its Splendor remains timeless it's only when you get close up to it you realize the magnitude is massive who is it so what we're looking at is a subject which comes from Milton from Paradise Lost and it's Saint Michael triumphing over Satan making him feel pain for the first time never ceases to imagine when you look at a really good marble sculpture and flaxman was one of the best the anatomy is perfect isn't it it's brilliant it's all carved from one single piece of marble as well which is just extraordinary and we've got letters here what are they so these are very important letters which we've sourced which were very kindly supplied by the somerset Records Office right so we don't see these very often no these letters from Lord agramont to the sculptor flaxman which really record the process of the way in which this this sculpture developed because this was very much a collaborative piece the third doll was very clear that he wanted a capital figure of Satan based on Raphael's uh painting of Saint Michael and Satan which is now in the Louvre so he wasn't saying I'll just Doom with this he was hands on until it's saying what he wanted yes I mean these letters suggest really he didn't leave flaxman Dear Sir I've been thinking a good deal about the Archangel I went to see him the day before I left London the character of the action of Michael ought I think to be like a falcon descending with his prey from the air not like a man who had overpowered another from ground so he wants Michael to be almost flying down there to Satan doesn't he very dynamically astonishing I love the end of the letter facilities Etc agreement how much is flaxman as well and you also he's not just paying for a great work he's he's inspiring it as well and actually flaxman must have felt that at least this was a patron who cared definitely this was a typical example of the third Earl and his relationship with artists and getting the best out of them flaxman's work is Testament to the unique partnership between artists and Patron there is no doubting I mean this is a masterpiece it is and the third Earl would be equally Hands-On when it came to the hundreds of paintings he would amass in Petworth house their appreciation became a lifelong preoccupation gosh the thing about him that he wasn't just an avid collector he was quite particular about how his paintings were displayed as well absolutely that he was he was a curator in many ways and these books do they show where everything went well these are very important uh estate record books which aren't on permanent display they actually come from the family's private archive but they're a very important record of the kind of activity that went on in the third world's lifetime wow well this is 1825 April the 30th getting ready and fixing Phillips to hang pictures in the square dining and well this is a square dining you'll say this is where they were doing the Phillies on the 30th of April 1825 absolutely and then when you get into the 1830s it goes even busier because more stuff's coming in there or is it more absolutely the north Gallery is fully built by then so August the 1st 1834 taking down and re-hanging pictures August the 8th taking down re-hanging pictures also taking down so every week every week no I think we'll have that one over there no I don't I use battery everything seems to have begun with it every single week in looking at this presumably you're still doing it today it's not preserved in aspect this Gallery then no absolutely we we lend pictures to exhibitions and we redisplay our collection from time to time we're about to re-hang one of our paintings in this room can I see what you do you can give us a hand yeah you trust me I would big mistake through here 3am nice [Music] oh it's this eventual Mistress of the house Elizabeth I lifts it we need our special gloves oh God perfect gloves so she's going above the door in the square dining room that's where she's going yes she's very heavy she's not too bad she's a little bit delicate though and uh exhausting there are little hooks on the back which are quite good to grab hold off so that's not too bad is it drop it don't no don't drop it it's all right Elizabeth you're safe with me I think Steady As She Goes I'm really scared [Music] right dear I still have you there don't drop it now and then you're looking very expensively I'm not a little worried but wait so she's going right up there in that hole there yes the key presumably is do it slowly slowly and carefully you know well as it's slow and careful I'll let you do that Elizabeth that you're a safe Pair of Hands okay all right have fun see you later thanks for your help Lord agremont's Ledger officers an invaluable insight into how these incredible works of art were cared for back in the 18th and 19th centuries and although today's method of archiving and displaying has a much more modern twist with scaffold ropes pulleys and the rest I'm willing to bet the same love and attention was used back then too either way the result Still Remains a breathtaking display foreign [Music] 's passion for art was influenced by The Grand Tour he would take as a Young Man where he'd have been inspired by the wonders of Italian art and culture Jenny bond has trekked to South Devon to discover more about two female adventurers who embraced a grand tour of their own a journey unheard of for women at that time these Pioneers were the trailblazing cousins Jane and Mary Parmenter they set off on an inspirational journey across Europe which ended up taking nearly 10 years on the way they collected all sorts of paintings and artifacts which they brought back here to show off in their extraordinary and Charming home I'm meeting the trusts Emma k at alarond near exmouth hello how nice to meet you I'm happy to meet you put a panorama and what a house I absolutely love it I haven't even been in yet and how come the cousins decided to make such an unusual building the cousins were inspired by some of the places they visited on their grand tour namely Ravenna and they visited Basilica there they sound just my sort of women tell me a bit more about them they were really Forward Thinking Intrepid the first women to climb mumbua and the Alps in fact well it's a great story I'm longing to see inside the house would you show me around yeah absolutely I'd love to Jane and Mary built their home to display the amazing artifacts gathered on their remarkable Adventures wow this is extraordinary which began in France I'm fascinated by this Grand Tour they went on for nearly 10 years yeah so Jane did keep a really meticulous travel Journal it gives a lovely idea of the standards of Jane and Mary describing some of the places they stayed quite a nice little extract here the first few days on their trip to Paris described it as a very dirty in indeed the staircase shaking the maid's bold and impertinent the treatment sparing and the charge extravagant build an impertinent names oh my goodness and there's other things here they brought back from their travels we're really fortunate we have lots of that in the collection still today only a small part of Jane's diary survives it details just the first six weeks of their travels so little is known of these exceptional explorers with only a miniature of Mary and a silhouette of Jane in existence well I'd like to have known more but that's at least a start the cousin's collection is the only way to solve the mystery of where they visited we have these beautiful shell pictures here this one is actually a souvenir picture which we believe Jane and Mary Palmer would have brought back from their grand tour from an island called izola Bella on Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy I see what am I looking at then a palace on the island and within the palace there's a shell Grotto to me that could be could be anywhere how do you know it is fortunately it's actually written on the back perhaps would you like to see yeah who do you think wrote it uh so we think it would have been Mary palminter oh yes her own writing is I feel as if I'm on a treasure trail with each object revealing another Secret so we know they went to Northern Italy but we've also got clues that they went to Southern Italy because of the contents of this rather special table I love the the secrecy of it as it's too fragile to be lifted often a rare Glimpse inside is a true treat in here we find some fans so this is a fan that is hidden and inlaid in in the in the lid and these fans were only available to buy if you had scaled Mount Vesuvius is that right so so they did I'd like to think so it really is a little hidden treasure isn't it I'm bowled over by Jane and Mary's globetrotting two women traveling this extensively during the 18th century was virtually unheard of and so nearly a decade after they first set sail from Dover Mary and Jane finally came home for good but of course they waded straight into another adventure building alarond inspired by their travels and here it stands an everlasting Monument to two ground-breaking women and their epic Grand Tour [Music] the Earl of aggramonte would return from his own grand tour with a similar lifelong passion for the Arts and he'd fill Petworth house with the finest works from the cream of contemporary British artists this set him apart from other noblemen who preferred to obsess over the great Masters and antique sculpture [Music] the third Earl of aggremont was famous for investing in his passion for art but he also put money into forward-looking schemes centered around industry and agriculture petworth's enterprising Earl was Keen to cash in on any opportunities that would benefit these schemes in Chichester Peter Purvis is on a mission to uncover one of these potentially profitable projects and discovers the path to easy riches wasn't quite so simple to navigate by the 1800s the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and the frenzy of canal building was sweeping the nation essential for the transportation of goods and materials these artificial waterways were the engineering Endeavor of their day and the Earl of egremont he wanted the piece of the action eager to cash in on the latest trends in business and agriculture the Earl was Keen to build a canal near Petworth morning gentlemen good morning Peterborough I'm joining Ian Milton from the Canal Trust to learn more what have you done for the weather I know it's always sunny inches you sir except for today we're going to Brave the gray skies and hit the Earth's Waterway which was the last piece in a root linking Portsmouth with London canals were being built all over the country so why was the Earl particularly concerned with this one the main reason was we were at war with France at the time up to 1815 it was Napoleonic Wars our ships were under threats in the channel and it was seen as a good idea to have a Inland route from Portsmouth to London so this was a shortcut to avoid that was a shortcut yesterday and a safe cut the Earl put in 20 000 pounds out the total cost was about 126 000 yes bearing in mind there were 268 others it was a major show he was a major shareholder the costs spiral so the Earl borrowed 40 000 pounds from the government but it still took a total of five years until 1823 to complete the canal where it hit stormy waters by the time they got around to the finished building it uh we were at peace with France again so that major threat was gone so for for the Earl this was a bit of a blow it was sadly he lost money on it what sort of turnover were they expecting to make out of this they were hoping to make 55 000 pounds on the year and they made four and in 1826 they had enough he paid the debt back to the government sold his shares and left the rest of them to get on with it in terms of today's money then what kind of loss was the Earl experience in there whoa it's somewhere around four or five million oh my goodness so a major disaster disaster yes in less than 20 years after opening the last commercial barge traveled these Waters and the canal fell into disrepair so after years of neglect I must say that the canal looks in really good condition what happened in the 1970s a group of volunteers got together with the intention of restoring it all the way to the Chichester Harbor by 1992 and sufficient restoration had been done for us to start running a trip boat for the public and they've done such a great job that it looks almost as it does in the painting the third Earl commission from his friend the artist William Turner which is still on display in the carved room at Petworth house who take you up on top of the bridge there yeah as Canal volunteer Andrew Gibson appreciates it was painted in 1828 two years earlier the Earl of egremont had to pay the government loan back you would have thought that he would have been completely disillusioned with the canal but the painting was done this is the spot yes it took a few Liberties didn't he yes there was a bit of artistic license he had the sun setting in the North he had the bell tower on the wrong side of the steeple and he had a boat going down here which was far too big it's a very beautiful painting very beautiful spot the Earl of egremont grand canal scheme may not have been plain sailing but Turner certainly recognized its beauty and this feat of engineering is still going strong 200 years later although his attempts to cash in on the canal boom proved less than successful the Earl's relationship with Turner was to prove much more profitable and was responsible for placing Petworth house firmly on the map thank you this partnership is fondly remembered by the current lady agreement who was taking me into the old library in the private side of the house that was used as a secret Studio by the third Earl's favorite artist so this is the room in which Turner painted yes he felt so free here he would have come and sort of improved his sketches and worked them up possibly into oil pictures here because the lights want a massive great window so you can see why this is almost sort of classic artist studio isn't it well it's a north east facing light what was this room like when you came one of the first things I thought that was important about this room was not to have it painted and you can see it's very very dingy and people often ask me why on Earth don't you painting point of not painting it is that you still get the sense that Turner might have only just left this room you must have about the best collection of Turners in the country here if you have and the fact that they're in the house but we have got a couple of small ones here that um that belong to the family that are never shown oh wonderful enough oh now these are very special they don't come out very often they're in one of our private rooms and they're in their series of Turners uh sketches that he did of the house when he came in 1827 but they are very sensitive to light but there's a very interesting family connection to this picture Turner was having breakfast here in the white and gold room and he spilled the cream jug over a Mrs hazler's dress Mrs hazler was Lord eggerman's niece and she was wearing her best lilac dress and Taylor spilled the cream jug over her so by way of making amends at lunch time he came down with these two sketches he said I'm sorry about your dress but have a sketch you can see this she's mopping up cream of her blue dress so beautiful and is this um sketch off this is a very interesting one also because this shows you the church Spire which is no longer at Petworth it was taken down after the second world war when a bomb fell and made the Spire unstable but this is we can date uh on this time here to 1827 because that is Barry's Spire under construction who built the spire on Saint Mary's Church so we know exactly where that was painted do you feel the presence of people like Turner yes completely very much so I think the atmosphere of the house is very much the period of Lord oggarment and Turner which was it's called the Golden Age of Petworth it seems from talking to you that your every bit as fond of Petworth as Turner was yes I absolutely am I've been here for 40 years and I feel I've put Roots down here so it's true yes absolutely I am yes and the patronage goes on yes looking around the house surrounded by these amazing works of art it's obvious that the 19th century Lord agreement created something unique and beautiful Within These Walls today one can still feel the creatively charged atmosphere the spirit of inspiration and the presence of Turner passing through every Corridor the third Earl died in 1837 after a glorious 75-year Reign here at Pecos on the day of his funeral all the shops in the town were shut and the locals lined the streets while the many mourners including Turner followed the coffin on foot Lord egremont was a man of vision and generosity but above all he'll be remembered as a Maverick his was the Golden Age of the grand house and the masterpieces he left behind here at Petworth remain as a tribute to this amazing man [Music] foreign

Channel: Absolute History

Views: 79,874

Keywords: history documentaries, absolute history, world history, ridiculous history, quirky history

Id: iwWGZ4opXM4

Length: 40min 24sec (2424 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 30 2022