Located in 600 acres of its wild animal park take the opportunity to discover Port Lympne Mansion and learn about the history of this magnificent 20th Century Stately Home.
Following the succession to his father’s baronetcy, parliamentary constituency and vast fortune in 1912, Philip Sassoon embarked on the creation of a house to reflect his flamboyant personality. Port Lympne Mansion was built as a modern 20th Century Stately Home, and was a lavish and expensive project. The world’s leading professional craftsmen were employed – including architect Sir Herbert Baker famous for the design of New Delhi in India and Philip Tilden a well known designer.
Baker took full advantage of the magnificent site and an almost unlimited budget to produce what is generally regarded as his masterpiece. No expense was spared in the choice of materials – handmade French bricks and Kentish roof tiles, English oak window frames and rafters made from Oregon pine.
Extravagant Interior Design
The interior was designed to Sir Philip Tilden's requirements and has the essence of a roman villa, with marble columns, sweeping stone staircase and tessellated hall. The hallway floor is made from black and white marble in concentric curves and is fascinating to the eye. The Mansion was used as a billet for troops during World War II and during this time a lot of the original art work and features were damaged.
Contained within the Mansion are many artefacts of differing type. There are examples of ornamented ironwork made by Berub Reynolds and designed by Philip Tilden, who later was also responsible for the Moorish patio and the swimming pool outside (now a decorative pond with fountain).
Stunning Mural Art by Leading 20th Century Artists
There are many fantastic pieces of art mostly depicting wildlife from across the globe. A number of leading artists were used to embellish the interior of the mansion. Jose Maria Sert decorated the drawing room with murals of elephants, tropical birds and lush vegetation (sadly these were destroyed by troops billeted in the house during World War II).
Glyn Philpot Room
Of the original artwork designed for the Mansion there is a Glyn Philpot Egyptian frieze in the Glyn Philpot Room survived the damage, and had since been restored.
Rex Whistler’s Tent Room
This room remained reasonably intact with its trompe L’oeil Georgian scenes and whimsical plan of the garden. It was restored by experts from the Tate Gallery and is regarded as one of Whistler’s finest surviving works.
Spencer Roberts Room
In 1985 the wildlife artist, Arthur Spencer Roberts was commissioned to paint a mural depicting south-east Asian animals and birds – this room was the former drawing-room of the Mansion. Over 220 different species can be found in the mural including Sumatran rhinoceros, snow leopard and elephants. Roberts drew on his own experience of watching animals in the wild as well as actual portraits of animals at Howletts and Port Lympne.
Martin Jordan Room
In 1997 John Aspinall asked the artist Martin Jordan, to paint a mural portraying wild nature around the world emphasising the heroism of wild animals in the face of their persecution by man. The original timber columns have cleverly been incorporated to develop the theme of an ancient ruined pavilion from which the viewer looks out onto changing landscapes.
There are three mural rooms in the Mansion one painted by Rex Whistler, one by Spencer Roberts and the third by Martin Jordan, the latter of whom incorporated his own experiences of travelling the world and from right here in the Park. Martin Jordan now has the honour of revitalising the other mural rooms when required to do so.
For further information about booking Tours please contact 01303 264 647 or email us
