The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in southern England. This is an area we had not explored, so it was nice to spend some time there this last week.
On our way to our accommodation we passed Bignor Roman villa and stopped to take a look. Last year were were at nearby Fishbourne palace that has some amazing mosaics. Bignor is on a smaller scale, but still impressive.
This villa was discovered by a farmer in 1811. It was a tourist attraction back then and thatched buildings were erected over it back then.
These buildings are listed as historically important. The site is still owned by the same family. It does not have mains electricity and there are issues with getting solar power without spoiling the location. They are only open in the summer.
It is not a huge site, but still interesting. Only parts of the original villa are preserved. There is a basic cafe there.
We were staying at New Place Manor in Pulborough, which is not quite as old at only about 800 years.
This places has been a family home in recent years and gets rented out for holidays, We had the whole place for our group of twelve with plenty of bedrooms and use of the garden with swimming pool and tennis court.
The house has been modified and extended over the years. It has the largest Tudor fireplace of its type in the country in the main lounge. Yes, there are several lounges too. Queen Elizabeth I visited at some point and may have passed through these gates. You come in the other side now and her path would be blocked by the koi pond.
The house has been very nicely renovated with expensive fittings such as copper baths, an Aga cooker and four (!) dishwashers. The place is currently for sale for a bargain £3million.
We had a day out at Petworth House. This is a stately home with extensive gardens and the obligatory grand house. The art collection there is amazing and shows how rich the owners were. They have lots of paintings by JMW Turner. The room below has wooden carvings all over the wall. Over the fireplace is a portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein.
Every room is full of art and they have a whole gallery wing for some of the collections. I am no art expert, but I enjoyed some works by Hieronymus Bosch and William Blake. They also have a very old globe that shows people were not daft back then.
As it was a special family event we had a meal at The Pig. This is a very nice restaurant hidden down some narrow country roads.
We had booked a private room where they serve you a feast from options you select on the menu. The food was excellent.
There is a vineyard next door and they have a big kitchen garden where a lot of the food is grown.
There is plenty more to explore in this part of England. We passed Arundel Castle, but did not have time to go in. There are lots more Roman remains too. The villages are full of quaint old houses. We shall have to go back and see more.
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