About
Uppark is a late seventeenth-century country house perched dramatically on the crest of the South Downs in West Sussex, offering sweeping views southward toward the English Channel and northward across the rolling chalk downland. Built around 1690 for Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville, and later acquired by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, the house represents one of the finest examples of William and Mary architecture in the south of England, its compact Dutch-influenced exterior giving little hint of the remarkable interiors that lie within.
The house is famous for one of the most extraordinary events in National Trust history: on 30 August 1989, a fire broke out during roof renovation works and gutted much of the upper floors, threatening to destroy the house and its priceless contents entirely. What followed was a rescue operation of remarkable scale — furniture, paintings, ceramics, and textiles were carried out of the burning building by staff and volunteers, and thousands of fragments of plasterwork, woodwork, and decorative fittings were carefully gathered from the ruins. The subsequent restoration, completed in 1995, took five years and cost over £20 million, and is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious and successful conservation projects ever undertaken in Britain.
The restored interiors are a testament to the painstaking craftsmanship of the conservation team. The principal rooms — the Saloon, the Red Drawing Room, the Little Parlour — retain their Georgian decoration and furnishings with extraordinary fidelity, with original pieces returned to their precise positions where possible and new elements created to match the originals using traditional techniques. The collections include an outstanding assemblage of English and Continental ceramics, fine textiles, and portraits that together constitute one of the most complete Georgian interiors in the National Trust's care.
Uppark carries a further literary connection that adds depth to its history. From 1880 to 1893, the housekeeper of Uppark was Sarah Wells, whose son Herbert George Wells — later famous as H.G. Wells, author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds — spent extended periods at the house during school holidays and after a period of ill-health. The young Wells had access to the extensive library at Uppark, and the experience of an intelligent working-class boy observing the habits and assumptions of the upper-class household profoundly influenced his thinking and his fiction. The servants' quarters below stairs, preserved as part of the visitor experience, speak directly to this social dimension of the house.
The National Trust has managed Uppark since 1954. The surrounding parkland and gardens, laid out in the informal English landscape style, provide a beautiful setting for the house and offer extensive walks across the South Downs.
Categories:
Highlights
The 1989 Fire and Extraordinary Restoration
On 30 August 1989, a fire broke out during roof works and rapidly engulfed the upper floors of Uppark. In the hours that followed, National Trust staff, volunteers, and firefighters staged a desperate rescue, carrying hundreds of objects — furniture, paintings, ceramics, textiles — out of the burning building.
The fragments of plasterwork, gilding, and carved woodwork that rained down were carefully collected.
Over the next five years, a team of skilled conservators painstakingly reassembled, restored, and recreated the principal rooms using traditional techniques. The result — completed in 1995 — is regarded as one of the most remarkable conservation achievements in the history of the British heritage sector.
The Georgian State Rooms
The principal rooms at Uppark — the Saloon, the Red Drawing Room, the Little Parlour, and the Stone Hall — represent some of the finest Georgian decoration surviving in the south of England. Furnished in the eighteenth century by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh and his son Sir Harry, the rooms retain their original character with remarkable completeness, including original wallpapers, upholstery, and carpets that survived or were faithfully recreated following the 1989 fire.
The colour and decorative richness of these interiors, much of it Georgian in taste and execution, create an atmosphere of authentic period elegance rarely encountered elsewhere.
Outstanding Ceramics Collection
Uppark houses one of the most significant collections of English and Continental ceramics in the National Trust's care, assembled over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Fetherstonhaugh family. Displayed in the principal rooms and in the dedicated Staircase Hall, the collection includes notable pieces of Chelsea, Worcester, and Derby porcelain alongside fine examples of Dutch Delftware and early Meissen.
Many pieces are displayed in their original cabinets and positions, giving an authentic sense of the way in which ceramics were collected, displayed, and appreciated in the Georgian great house.
H.G. Wells and the World Below Stairs
From 1880 to 1893, Sarah Wells served as housekeeper of Uppark, and her young son Herbert George — the future H. G. Wells — spent extended periods here during school holidays and convalescence.
The experience of observing life in a great country house from the perspective of the servant class shaped Wells's thinking profoundly and left clear traces in his writing. The servants' quarters at Uppark have been preserved and interpreted as an integral part of the visitor experience, allowing visitors to understand the social world that the young Wells knew — a world of hierarchies, traditions, and sharp class divisions that both attracted and repelled him.
Collections
The Restored State Rooms
The principal rooms of the house — Saloon, Red Drawing Room, Little Parlour, Stone Hall, and Staircase Hall — presented with their original or restored furnishings, ceramics, portraits, and decorative arts, interpreted with the story of the 1989 fire and subsequent restoration.
Life Below Stairs
The servants' quarters in the basement, including the kitchen, housekeeper's room, and associated service areas, interpreted with reference to the household staff who ran Uppark and the time spent here by the young H.G. Wells.
Current Exhibitions
The garden and parkland are managed to provide interest throughout the year, with seasonal planting, guided walks, and specialist events exploring the landscape history of the property and its South Downs setting.