
Ashburnham Place is an
English country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
, now used as a Christian conference and prayer centre, five miles west of
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
, East Sussex. It was one of the finest houses in the southeast of England in its heyday, but much of the structure was demolished in 1959,
[ Colvin, Howard, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840'', 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 ''s.v.'' "George Dance".] and only a drastically reduced part of the building now remains standing.
Early history
The village of
Ashburnham was the home of the Ashburnham family from the 12th century. The family became wealthy through their land holdings in Sussex and around
Pembrey
Pembrey (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Pen-bre'') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,3 ...
in
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...
, and later from their participation in the
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the wrought iron, bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until abou ...
. Only the
cellars remain from the earliest known house on the site, dating from the 15th century. This house was abandoned in the 16th century and confiscated by
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
. The Ashburnham family recovered their estate under
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, and
John Ashburnham was a loyal servant of the King. He was forced to sell the estate to the Relf family in the
English Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...
, to pay fines levied for supporting the King. John Ashburnham recovered the estate again after the
English Restoration
The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...
. His grandson and namesake,
John Ashburnham, was created first
Baron Ashburnham in 1689. The house was largely rebuilt to designs of the
neo-Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Republic of Venice, Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetr ...
architect
Stephen Wright and the local direction of the builder John Morris of Lewes, ca 1757–61.
Design

The park, covering some and including three large lakes around the house, was laid out by the landscape architect
Capability Brown
Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style.
Unlike other architects ...
in the mid-18th century. Brown's
orangery
An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...
, c. 1767, houses the oldest
camellia
''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...
in England. Brick external additions were made to the house in
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
style in 1813–17,
by a third
John Ashburnham, the second
earl of Ashburnham
Earl of Ashburnham (pronounced "Ash-''burn''-am"), of Ashburnham in the County of Sussex, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1730 for John Ashburnham, 3rd Baron Ashburnham, who was also created Viscount St Asaph, in Wales. ...
, to designs by
George Dance the Younger
George Dance the Younger RA (1 April 1741 – 14 January 1825) was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist.
The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance the Elder, he came from a family of architects, artist ...
.
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...
designed entrance lodges for the second Earl in 1785.
George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham
George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (25 December 1760 – 27 October 1830), was a British Peerage, peer.
Early life
He was the son of the John Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham and the former Elizabeth Crowley, be ...
, commissioned
architectural drawing
An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to deve ...
s from
John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor ...
, but it is not known if the suggested additions, including a
porte-cochere, were built. The house was refaced in stone in the early 19th century, and then, when fashions changed, a second, red brick outer skin was added in 1853.
Internally, the house had a mix of styles, with a fine staircase by
George Dance rising three floors in the central entrance hall. The
drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th ce ...
was decorated with painted wall panels attributed to
Athenian Stuart. The house held the family's fine collection of paintings and the extensive library, collected by the 3rd Earl and his son,
Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham.
The gardens of Ashburnham Place are Grade II* listed on the
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
{{R from move ...
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.
By the late 19th century, the family was under financial pressure, and offered to sell the library, including its collection of
s, to the nation in the 1890s for £160,000. The deal did not go ahead, and the books were sold piecemeal for a total of £228,000 over the next few years. Many were acquired by the
, Paris. The Earldom became extinct on the death of
in 1924, and the house was inherited by his niece, Lady Catherine Ashburnham. The house was damaged when a fully loaded
set in.
Lady Catherine was the last of this line of the Ashburnham family and the estate was inherited by Reverend John David Bickersteth (1926-1991), a great-grandson of the 4th Earl, on her death in 1953. In addition to the prospect of huge repair bills, he was also saddled with crippling
of £427,000. The contents of the house were sold at auction at
in June and July 1953, and half of the estate was sold in the next few years. The house was mostly demolished in 1959, reducing the central section to two floors and the wings to a single story.
.
Meanwhile, Bickersteth established a prayer centre in the stable block. He gave the remaining parts of the house, and of parkland, to the Ashburnham Christian Trust in April 1960.
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