Penshurst Place takes centre stage in More4’s ‘Great Estates from Above’
Popular Kent stately home Penshurst Place will feature in ‘Great Estates from Above’ – a brand-new four-part series which began this month on More4.
Image © Penshurst Place & Gardens
The Penshurst Place episode will air on Thursday (23rd October) at 9pm. Produced by Dash Pictures, the series takes a fly-on-the-wall look behind the scenes at four of Britain’s great houses. At Penshurst Place, the cameras follow the dedicated on-site team as they carry out the everyday work required to conserve and share the historic house and its 2,500-acre estate – family seat of the Sidney’s since it was gifted by Edward VI in 1552.
Filmed between February and July 2025, the production captures life inside the house and explores the wider estate, using state-of-the-art drone photography.
In the episode, viewers will see:
- A guided look inside one of England’s oldest and most perfectly preserved manor houses, including staterooms and collections cared for by specialist housekeeping staff – from fine art and furnishings to armour and antiques.
- The meticulous conservation and cleaning routines that protect valuable objects, plus the progress of the Toy Museum’s year-long re-imagining – made possible with support from a National Lottery Heritage Grant.
- Essential exterior works, including delicate roof maintenance on the complex historic structure.
- In the original 11-acre Elizabethan-era formal walled gardens, Head Gardener Tony Wiseman explains how he and his team maintains a private garden that’s shared with the public, while staying true to its historic design.
- Life beyond the garden walls: the village cricket ground located on the estate used by the local club and a private lake near the house enjoyed by a supervised wild-swimming group.
- Across the estate: woodland regeneration, views over the arboretum and parkland, and the use of riverside wetland for willow plantations supplying cricket-bat maker Gray-Nicolls.
Ben Thomas, General Manager at Penshurst Place, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Dash Pictures team and to showcase the craft, care and hard work that goes on behind the scenes every day. Preserving the house and wider estate for future generations is central to what we do and seeing Penshurst from above brings those stories into focus in a fresh way.
“Penshurst Place has stood at the heart of English history for seven centuries. The aerial perspective reveals patterns and details even we rarely see, and it underlines why this living estate continues to matter today.”
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Cressida Kinnear, Series Producer at Dash Pictures, said: “The team at Penshurst Place welcomed our crew and allowed us a privileged behind the scenes view of what it takes to run this historic estate and its beautiful gardens. Filming from the air allowed us to explore the architecture and landscape of the estate from a new perspective.”
The Penshurst Place epsiode features Dr The Hon Philip Sidney (heir to Penshurst Place), Ben Thomas (General Manager), Nicky Stitchman (Head of Collections and Visitors), Tony Wiseman (Head Gardener), members of the housekeeping team, Zac Price (forester), Jake Cheesman (cricket club), stewards and specialist trades and others.
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