Painting of Fete in Petworth Park in 1835

The quality of this photo - taken in VERY low light - is nothing like that of the original painting, which has an astonishing amount of detail.  Despite the presence of numerous J M W Turner canvases in Petworth House, this is my favourite painting there.

You will find another blip of the house and part of the grounds here.

Information from the National trust website:

History of the Fete

It had been Lord Egremont’s (George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl [1751-1837]) custom to feast the poor of the adjoining villages every winter.


In 1834 he had been ill, but being determined to hold the dinner he postponed it until the following summer. There is an account of the occasion in Greville’s Diary. On 23 May 1834, Greville relates how he visited Petworth and saw “the finest feast that could be given”. Fifty-four tables each fifty feet long were placed in a semi-circle on the lawn before the house and two marquees were erected.

Four thousand invitations were sent out but Lord Egremont threw open the gates to all who happened to be passing and it is probable that in the event 6,000 people attended. In the evening there were fireworks.

The success of the fete must have led Lord Egremont to repeat it in the summer of 1835, when this picture was painted.


PS  I was visiting the House to see the exhibition on ""Blake in Sussex", a collection of astonishing works by William Blake.   (If you are not too sure who he was, think of the poems "Jerusalem" and "Tiger, tiger, burning bright")