Cowdray Park, West Sussex

[1] On 25 September 1793, a fire destroyed Cowdray House, reducing it to its present ruined state.

The present house was built by his son Charles Perceval, 7th Earl of Egmont in the 1870s.

After the war, architect Percy Wheeler made alterations for John Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray.

[1] In 2005 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £2.7m towards the cost of stabilising the ruins and they were opened to the public on 31 March 2007.

[7] The following year, in September 2010, the house was put on the market for £25 million, not including the rest of the estate.

[6] The collection housed within Cowdray Park was auctioned in situ by Christie's over three days, between 13 and 15 September 2011.

[9] Among the objects sold were furniture, silver, paintings, tapestries and porcelain, with a portrait previously identified as Queen Elizabeth I (but now considered more likely to be Catherine Howard, née Carey, Countess of Nottingham) achieving the highest auction price of £325,250.