Alan Titchmarsh to star in new TV series at Sussex stately home

Daytime TV favourite and master gardener Alan Titchmarsh is to star in a new television game show featuring Parham House and Gardens at Pulborough.
Alan TitchmarshAlan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh

The ITV series - called Masterpiece - is the brainchild of Alan himself.

Parham will be featured in six episodes of the series which sees antiques and history fans face a series of challenges.

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Parham, an Elizabethan manor house, is home to rare and precious collections of paintings, furniture, needlework and antiquities. It also has a four-acre walled garden, and an 875-acre deer park.

Parham was originally owned by the Monastery of Westminster and granted to Robert Palmer by King Henry VIII in 1540.

It stayed in the family for hundreds of years but was bought by Clive Pearson, younger son of Lord Cowdray, in 1922.

He is the great grandfather of the current chateleine Lady Emma Barnard who has lived at Parham with her family since 1994, taking over the property from Lord Cowdray’s daughter, Lady Emma’s great-aunt, Veronica Tritton, upon her death.

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In the new television game show series Parham is one of a number of stately homes across Britain which are featured.

Show contestants have to use their amateur antique skills to determine whether objects at the stately homes are true ‘masterpieces’ worth more than £10,000.

Host Alan, a former presenter of Gardener’s World as well as a renowned chat show host, said: “This is the first time I have come up with an idea for a game show so I’m really chuffed and excited.

“It plays to everyone’s curiosity as to the value of all kinds of collectibles and beautiful things, from classic cars to film memorabilia, posters and toys to works of art and antiques.

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“And the series is filmed in some of our finest stately homes, so the scenery is pretty handsome, too.

“It’s been great fun to make and I think it’s fun to watch as well, with the viewers playing along to see if they can spot the masterpieces, which are not always as obvious as they might seem.”

Masterpiece With Alan Titchmarsh will air weekdays at 3pm on ITV from Monday (February 15).

Parham re-opens to the public this year on Easter Sunday (March 27).

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