Penshurst Place Victorian kitchen exhibit offers glimpse into past

A Victorian kitchen in a historic manor house has been opened to the public for the first time, giving an insight into how such a room would have been used.

The new exhibit at Penshurst Place in Tonbridge, Kent, was the house's main kitchen from the 1800s through to 1950.

A vast Victorian table plus an antique collection of copper pots and pans form part of the immersive display.

Penshurst's owners said their home had been "a centre of entertainment, food and hospitality" for centuries.

Once owned and used as a hunting lodge by King Henry VIII, the estate was gifted to the Sidney family by Henry's son, King Edward VI, in 1552.

Dr Hon Philip Sidney told BBC South East: "The house is 650 years old and all through that time it has been a centre of entertainment, cookery, food and hospitality, all the way back to Henry VIII being hosted by the Duke of Buckingham in 1519, all the way down to our weddings and hospitality today."

The estate was first opened to the public in 1947 and has been used as a location for a number of films and period television dramas, including Wolf Hall, starring Damian Lewis.

It is hoped the new kitchen exhibit will provide a further "snapshot in time" and an insight into the past roles of the household staff.

A vast wooden table sits in the centre of the room, while a cook's desk displays menus, recipe books and shopping lists.

Nicky Stitchman, head of house visits and collections at Penshurst Place, said: "The cook and the head gardener would have talked a lot about what was being grown in the kitchen gardens.

"All sorts of crops - peaches, cherries, pineapples, apples and herbs would have grown to be used in the kitchen and to make remedies for people if they were sick or needed a pick-me-up."

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