Parnham Park in Dorset which will host its first antiques fair from March 15 to 17 in the walled garden at the manor house.
Photo: Parnham Park
Parnham Park is a Grade I-listed Elizabethan manor house near Beaminster in Dorset which has been restored to its earlier beauty by former music producer, restoration specialist and collector James Perkins following a devastating fire in 2017.
Now the Perkins’ family home is an events venue and the estate is holding its first antiques fair, which will run from Friday to Sunday March 15-17.
Organiser Paul Farnham, an antiques dealer in nearby Bridport, modestly said “my only previous experience of putting on an event was a Massive Attack gig in Bristol in the ’90s”. He adds: “It sounded like an opportunity and after James Perkins suggested it would be a great idea to hold a antiques fair in a marquee in the walled garden of the estate, I decided to give it a shot.”
Dealer and fair organiser Paul Farnham.
Farnham has selected nine high-end dealers who will showcase their stock ranging from the Tudor period to Mid-century including textiles, furniture, statuary and tribal pieces. Lined up are Patrick Macintosh Antiques, Arabesque Antiques, Guy Tobin Antiques, Old Albion, Stowaway London, Tom Hurst, Gerard Coles and Studio 49 (Cleo Holyoke-Heatley and Farnham himself).
Admission is £10 via the website parnhampark.com
Antiques dealer Guy Tobin is exhibiting at the new Parnham Park fair and although he has not yet decided what he is going to take, on his site a pair of mid-19th century English carved walnut chairs costs £1650, one pictured, with the ‘tramp art’ frame selling at about £160. guytobin.co.uk
With 50 years’ experience in the trade, Farnham deals in country house furniture, rugs and textiles at his shop, Studio 49 in nearby Bridport. He says: “Bridport is an ideal place to continue to trade without sacrificing any quality of life.”
The market town has loads to offer an antiques and vintage enthusiast. This includes two antiques centres, Bridport Antiques and the Alleyways Antiques Centre, both owned by Samantha and Richard Payne-Withers. Then there is Salvage Style selling textiles and fabrics and Old Albion that offers reclamation pieces. Startled Hare Antiques and Curiosities explains itself while Ruby in the Dust is a vintage interiors shop.
As well as two auction houses, an added incentive is the monthly vintage market which runs on the last Sunday in the month on the St Michael’s Trading Estate with the next on March 31 (Easter Sunday). Contact bridportantiques.co.uk for further information on the market.
