Stanmer Park is a large public park immediately to the west of 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 , ...

, and to the north-east of the city of Brighton in the county of East Sussex,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, UK. It is a Local Nature Reserve and

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 ...

, under the

National Heritage Act 1983 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, has registered the park on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England at Grade II level. The eighteenth century park contains the Grade I listed

Stanmer House Stanmer House is a Grade I listed mansion set in Stanmer Park west of the village of Falmer and north-east of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The house stands close to Stanmer village and Church, within Stanmer Park. Cons ...

and also 25 Grade II listed buildings and structures. These form the village of

Stanmer Stanmer is a small village on the eastern outskirts of Brighton, in East Sussex, England. History The etymological root of the name is "Stony Mere", Old English for "stone pond", referring to the sarsen stones around Stanmer village pond. The ...

and Stanmer Church within the park, which would once have been the estate of the house. All were private until bought by Brighton's Council in 1947. There is a café, Stanmer Tea Rooms, in the village. A major restoration project is underway funded through the National Lottery, the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, Plumpton College and the

South Downs National Park Authority The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamps ...

. Once completed, this should give improved infrastructure, facilities and accessibility to the park, explain the heritage better and provide a new walled public garden One Garden Brighton. New employment and volunteer opportunities and events are also planned to start in 2021. Stanmer House was built for the Pelham family in 1722 around an earlier building. A mistress of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

later lived there. It was used as the first administrative centre of the 1961

, during the construction of its campus over a part of the park. A walk of elm trees was preserved within the campus design, by architect

Sir Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modern ...

. The house reopened in June 2006 after extensive restoration but there have been difficulties in bring it into successful use. The church, adjacent to the village pond, was built in 1838 on the site of a 14th-century building. The church is now maintained by the Stanmer Preservation Society, which also runs the Donkey Wheel. The woods beyond the park to the north and west lead into

Wild Park Wild Park is a Local Nature Reserve in Brighton in East Sussex. It is owned and managed by Brighton and Hove City Council. It includes Hollingbury Castle, an Iron Age hillfort which is a Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a schedule ...

and the open

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

countryside, part of the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

. Immediately to the south of the park runs the major A27 road.

References

Earthship

The Park also has one of Britain's few

Earthships An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as passive solar earth shelters made of both natural and upcycled materials such ...

External links

Stanmer Park (Brighton and Hove Council website)

Stanmer House website

Stanmer Preservation Society

Stanmer Park Tea Rooms website

One Garden Brighton website
{{Local Nature Reserves in East Sussex Brighton and Hove Parks and open spaces in East Sussex Local Nature Reserves in East Sussex