Bignor Park is a family-run country estate in the South Downs National Park, in West Sussex, between Petworth and Arundel. It is hired with exclusive use for weddings, and it also takes corporate days, private parties and community events. Receptions run from a 65-seat dining room in the stables to a marquee or tipi for up to 250 guests on the Croquet Lawn.
Seminars and company events
The estate takes corporate events, private parties and community gatherings. Past events listed on the site include sales training days, outdoor receptions, barbecues, tennis competitions and vintage car rallies. The venue says that indoor and outdoor spaces are available across the estate and that they can be tailored to a brief. No room names or capacities are given for business use, so send the number of delegates and the format when you enquire. The event contact is the wedding and events manager, listed on the corporate events page.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are exclusive use, limited to a small number each year, and the couple has access to the estate for two days before the wedding. That time is meant for styling the marquee and the ceremony spaces. Licensed civil ceremonies and civil partnerships take place in the Greek Loggia, in the formal gardens.
There are three reception settings. Drinks receptions are held on the South Lawn in front of the house, with views across the South Downs. The Croquet Lawn takes a marquee or tipi for up to 250 guests. The Stables are a restored 18th-century complex of five rooms around a cobbled courtyard. All three are blank canvases to be styled by the couple.
Rooms and capacities
In the Stables, the Coach Store seats up to 65 guests for dining or dancing and opens through French doors to the Quadrangle, a walled garden. The Stove Room next to it seats up to 25 for additional dining or can be a bar. The Stalls keep four original horse stalls and suit dining or informal entertaining. The Tack Room is a private room for the wedding party, and the Garden Room is a preparation space for caterers. For celebrations above 90 guests, a marquee can be installed in the Courtyard and Quadrangle.
Catering
The Stables include a dedicated caterers' preparation room, which indicates that caterers come to the estate. The site lists a wedding suppliers page, and you should ask whether the caterer is free to choose.
Accommodation
The site has a Places to Stay page, which was not read. Ask the estate about guest accommodation and bedrooms on site.
History and setting
Bignor Park stands in parkland with views of the South Downs. The estate has long hosted local charity and cultural events, among them outdoor theatre for the Petworth Festival, concerts by Chichester Cathedral Choir and the annual Bignor Park fete.
Getting there
The estate lies between Petworth and Arundel in West Sussex. Book a private viewing through the events contact on the site to see the spaces before you decide.
