The Church at Penshurst is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It immediately adjoins the Park; and is connected, by a private walk, with the garden of the Mansion. It is an ancient and very venerable structure, containing many monuments to the Sidneys,
and to members of the families of Draynowt, Cambridge, Egerton, Head, Darkenol, Pawle, and Yden. The most interesting and beautifully wrought of the tombs is to the memory of Sir William Sidney, Knight Banneret, Chamberlain and Steward to Edward the VIth, and Lord of the Manor of Peneshurste, who died in 1553. It stands in a small chapel at the west end of the chancel, and at the foot of the tomb is a very antique figure, carved in marble, supposed to be a memorial to Sir Stephen de Pencestre. Below, is the vault which contains the dust of generations of the Sidneys. Sir William Sidney’s monument is a fine example of art, elaborately and delicately sculptured; it contains a long inscription, engraved on a brass tablet, the lettering in which is as clear and as sharp as if it were the work of yesterday. The roof of this Chapel is peculiarly light and elegant. In both the exterior and interior the Church is highly picturesque. The oak gallery is one of the earliest erections of the kind that followed the Reformation. In our view of the exterior is introduced the entrance to the Sidney vault—a modern addition to the Church.
In all respects, therefore, a visit to Penshurst—now, by railroad, within an hour’s distance of the Metropolis—may be described as a rare intellectual treat; opening a full and brilliant page of history, abundant in sources of profitable enjoyment to the Antiquary, affording a large recompense to the lover, or the professor, of Art, and exhibiting Nature under a vast variety of seductive aspects.
J. S. Dodd, Delᵗ Stone by W. Walton M. & N. Hanbart, Lithogʳˢ
THE HALL IN THE WOOD, LANCASHIRE