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S Y O N P A R K
M I D D L E S E x , E N G L A N D
H i s G r a c e T h e D u k e o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , M . C .
One of the country’s most illustrious families, the Percy’s famously came to
England with William the Conqueror in 1066. Syon was already established as
a fortress Guarding the Thames River, coming to the Percy family as a gift from
Henry VIII. William Shakespeare was inspired by the skill at arms, gallantry and
power of this family and wrote Harry Hotspur, Earl Percy, as the romantic hero
and one of his most forceful and colourful protagonists in Henry IV. Ancient
Syon was re-decorated and re-furnished in the late 18th Century and stands as
the foremost example of Robert Adam’s most fantastical, colourful, detailed and
varied creativity. Brilliant colours and astonishing designs remain a memorial
to Robert Adam’s greatest achievements, while paintings by Rubens, Canaletto,
Gainsborough, and Reynolds line the walls, all showing the Percy family’s great
patronage of the arts. The Duke of Northumberland’s family have also been
hugely distinguished for these centuries with an unbelievable range of activities:
brilliant games players, astute politicians, gifted professors, illustrious courtiers
and highest Military distinction, with so many generations sadly killed on
active service.
