It is about time I added a bit of colour to my postcard tour of the parish of West Dean (near Chichester), Sussex. So far I think the postcards have all been black and white or sepia, but this one is in colour. Admittedly not many colours, mainly greys and greens, but colour nevertheless.
This postcard of West Dean House was posted on the 23rd November 1906, which seems quite fitting as it looks very much like a winter scene, there is not much colour in the flower beds and most of the trees have lost their leaves. The Sussex Postcards website has information about the publisher Russell’s of nearby Chichester, Sussex and the probable photographer George Henry Allen. It also features a copy of the same card which is postmarked 1904, two years earlier than mine.
The core of West Dean House was built in 1804 and it has been added to during the following two centuries. It is now home to West Dean College and is not open to the public, but it is set within West Dean Gardens which are open to the public throughout most of the year.
