Пенсхерст Плейс: Англияның орта ғасырлық тарихы

Historic medieval house in Kent, England

Penshurst Place is a historic building near Penshurst, Kent, 32 mile (51 km) south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poets and courtiers, siblings Mary Sidney and Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst.

Penshurst Place was built as a hall house in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four times Lord Mayor of London who wanted a country residence within easy distance of London. This was at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. Henry Sidney also created what is now one of England's oldest private gardens, with records going back to 1346. Philip Sidney (1554–1586), Henry's son, was born at Penshurst Place in 1554. Poet and courtier, he was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral, 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. Philip's brother, Robert Sidney, inherited Penshurst. His time there resulted in more additions to the state rooms, including an impressive "Long Gallery". He had also inherited the Earldom of Leicester, and his descendants for the next seven generations continued to live at the mansion.

By the 19th century, the building was falling into disrepair, but a new occupant in 1818, Sir John Shelley Sidney, uncle of Percy Bysshe Shelley, gained ownership of the property. He began to restore the building with architect J. Rebecca. His son Philip Sidney, 1st Lord De L’Isle and Dudley, continued the restoration. Under Philips' care, a stable wing was constructed, which currently houses the Toy Museum.

One notable element of the property was the Sidney Oak tree, estimated to have grown for more than 1000 years. It died in 2016 and was commemorated with a plaque on the property in 2017. It was listed as one of Britain's 50 Great Trees during Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. An oil painting depicting the tree and the Penhurst property was gifted to the Victoria & Albert museum in 1857, where it is still housed.

Penshurst has been used as a filming location, including: Anne of the Thousand Days; the 1971 BBC series Elizabeth R; the 1992 television series Covington Cross; The Other Boleyn Girl; The Princess Bride; the BBC TV show Merlin; The Hollow Crown; and the BBC’s 2015 series Wolf Hall.