Goodwood House, West Sussex, England-2Oct2011

Goodwood House is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

and estate covering in Westhampnett,

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, England and is the seat of the Duke of Richmond. The house was built in about 1600 and is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Description

The house and its grounds are the site of the annual

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June o ...

, whilst elsewhere on the estate the Goodwood Circuit motorsport track at

Chichester/Goodwood Airport Chichester/Goodwood Airport , normally referred to as Goodwood Airfield or Goodwood Aerodrome is located north northeast of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Chichester (Goodwood) Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P781) that allo ...

hosts the annual Goodwood Revival, and the airfield has a Flying School.

Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in ...

hosts "Glorious Goodwood" and a number of other (horse) race meetings. The estate includes two golf courses and a cricket pitch, home to

Goodwood Cricket Club Goodwood Cricket Club is a Sunday cricket team that play in the grounds of Goodwood Park, near Chichester. The ground overlooks Goodwood House and is owned by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. It is thought to be one of the oldest cricket club ...

, a hotel and a organic farm. The estate employs over 550 people and attracts 800,000 visitors a year. The headquarters of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is on the Estate. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath crosses the downs from west to east, passing immediately south of the racecourse. The landscaped park and woodlands of Goodwood are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

History

Goodwood House was built circa 1600 and was acquired by Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond in 1697. A South wing was added by Matthew Brettingham and a North wing by James Wyatt. It may be that there was an intention to build the house in a unique octagonal layout, but only three of the eight sides were built and that intention has never been proven. Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond commissioned Sir William Chambers to design the stable block in 1757 and James Wyatt to design the Kennels, originally for use by the Duke's hunting hounds but now used as a golf club house, in 1787. He also commissioned Goodwood Racecourse, which was established in 1802. The Goodwood Golf Course was laid out in 1901. Chichester/Goodwood Airport was built during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Goodwood Circuit was laid out around the perimeter of the airfield by Frederick Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond in 1948. In 1982, the Goodwood estate played host to the World Road Cycling Championships. A large collection of documents from the Goodwood Estate Archives (1418–1984) is held by West Sussex Record Office.

References

External links

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Goodwood House entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country HousesBrochure with a few pictures of the house
{{Coord, 50.870904, -0.741405, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Chichester Goodwood estate Country houses in West Sussex Historic house museums in West Sussex Art museums and galleries in West Sussex Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex Grade I listed houses Grade I listed parks and gardens in West Sussex Defunct real tennis venues