Publications
Petworth Park's hidden past, by Tom Dommett, published 2015 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 153, article, pp.83-112) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18934] & The Keep [LIB/509033] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:From September 2012 to September 2013 a programme of archaeological survey and investigation was undertaken at Petworth Park, West Sussex, under the auspices of the Monument Trust-funded Petworth Park Archaeology Project. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown's 18th-century landscape design at Petworth House and Park has left a landscape which appears natural and timeless, but nothing could be further from the truth. The project has revealed a complex sequence of change, development and expansion over the course of 800 years, a story of changing fashions and fortunes which have left their mark on the landscape. Working with over 100 volunteers, the Petworth Park Archaeology Project has shed new light on features such as the 17th-century 'lost' North Wing of the House, the 6th Duke of Somerset's monumental stable block and the 18th-century baroque formal gardens which once surrounded the House. It has shown how the use of the Park has included the functional as well as the ornamental, with evidence for industrial activities and estate buildings, and has revealed how portions of the surrounding medieval and post-medieval landscape, including settlement and field systems, have become engulfed and fossilised within the Park. Investigations ranging from desk-based assessment to excavation have not only identified a huge range of archaeological features but have also demonstrated the archaeological potential within the Park and the need for future work to further our understanding of this complex landscape.