[Illustration: BYWORTH.]
The road trends north-west by Egdean and Byworth to Petworth. Petworth
town consists of a number of old-world streets extremely crooked,
narrow, and picturesque. Seen from any near point the grouping of roofs
is as artistically good as any in Sussex. Petworth Church has been
practically rebuilt. The north chantry contains the tombs of some of
the Percy family, including that of the ninth Earl, who was imprisoned
in the Tower on suspicion of being concerned in the Gunpowder Plot.
Here is also the monument to Lord Egremont (1840), a fine seated
figure. Notice several interesting brasses and a sixteenth century tomb
of the Dawtreys. Near the church is an old house belonging to this
family. One of the rectors of Petworth was Francis Cheynell, the
antagonist of Chillingworth. Just below the church is the Somerset
Hospital, eighteenth century almshouses founded by a Duke of Somerset.
In North Street is Thompson's Hospital, another picturesque group. In
the centre of the town stands the Market House built by the Earl of
Egremont. In its front is a bust of "William the Deliverer."
[Illustration: PETWORTH CHURCH.]
Petworth is another instance of feudal foundation.
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