Penshurst Place is a historic building near Penhurst, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst. History Penshurst Place was built in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four times Lord Mayor of London who wanted a country residence within easy distance of London. This was at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. When Henry IV's third son, John, Duke of Bedford, occupied Penshurst, the second hall, known as the Buckingham Building, was built: so called after the subsequent owners, the Dukes of Buckingham. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was executed in 1521 by Henry VIII following a lavish feast held at Penshurst Place hosted by the Duke in honour of Henry; it then stayed in the crown estate for the rest of Henry's reign, with documented evidence Henry used Penshurst Place as a hunting lodge and visiting with his courtier Brandon, the property being only a few miles from Hever Castle, childhood home of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn. In 1550, Henry VIII's son, King Edward VI, granted the house and estate to Sir Ralph Fane, a supporter of Protector Somerset, but it was forfeited two years later after Sir Ralph was executed for treason. Sidney family Penshurst Place was enlarged after 1552 when King Edward VI granted the house to Sir William Sidney (1482–1554), who had been a courtier to the King's father, Henry VIII. Sir William's son Henry (1529–1586) married Lady Mary Dudley, whose family became implicated in the Lady Jane Grey affair, although Henry himself escaped any such implications. During his lifetime he added apartments and the "King's Tower" to Penshurst. He employed a joiner Evan Lucas to supply panelling and carve ornaments including leopard's heads for the hall and gallery. Henry Sidney also created what is now one of England's oldest private gardens, with records going back to 1346. Philip Sidney (1554–1586), Henry's son, was born at Penshurst Place in 1554. Poet and courtier,