Swanborough Manor is a listed English manor dating back to the 12th century in

Iford, East Sussex Iford is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located two miles (3.2 km) south of Lewes. The parish lies on slopes of the South Downs in the valley of the River Ouse. Notable bui ...

Overview

It is located on Swanborough Drove in Iford, East Sussex.British Listed Buildings
/ref> It was built in about 1200.
/ref> However, it was extended in the 15th century, with an additional ceiling. Indeed, the gateway, the great chimney breast, a

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

peephole, and parts of a screen with arched blank panelling all date back to the 15th century. It was listed as Grade I by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

in 1952.

History

It previously belonged to

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

(1491-1547), followed by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

(1599-1658).James Trollope
The manor of its going
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', March 15, 2003 More recently, it belonged to

Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, (10 October 1860 – 30 December 1935) was a British Liberal politician and judge, who served as Lord Chief Justice of England, Viceroy of India, and Foreign Secretary, the last Liberal to hold that ...

and

Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough, GBE (6 January 1894 – 22 May 1971), née Stella Charnaud, was an English philanthropist who is best remembered as the founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), no ...

(1894-1971). After her death, Stella, a.k.a. Baroness Swanborough, donated it to the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

located in

Falmer Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falm ...

, to be used as a residence for the Vice-Chancellor.Swanborough Manor for sale
''Sussex Bulletin'', October 04, 2002 However, from 1971 to 1985, it was used as housing for postgraduates and lecturers. It was only used as the main residence of the Vice-Chancellor from 1985 to 1997. However, former Vice-Chancellor

Alasdair Smith Alasdair Smith DL is a former professor of economics and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex and is a former Chair of the 1994 Group. He is a noted international economist whose studies (often developed in concert with fellow economist T ...

sold it in 2003, arguing the upkeep was too costly for the university. Baroness Swanborough's step-great-grandson,

Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading Simon Rufus Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading (born 18 May 1942), is a British peer, banker and philanthropist. Biography Early life Simon Rufus Isaacs was born on 18 May 1942. His father was Michael Isaacs, 3rd Marquess of Reading (1916� ...

, openly criticized the university for selling it, adding that the university should have striven to find ways to keep it for at least fifty years after her death, in 2021, according to her wishes.

References

{{coord, 50.8527, -0.0110, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title English Heritage sites in East Sussex Country houses in East Sussex Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in East Sussex University of Sussex