Beach House in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, England is a

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

beach-side villa, built in 1820 to designs by John Rebecca. It was originally known as ''Marino Mansion.'' It was built for a man named Robert Cary Elwes.

History

In the mid-nineteenth century, Sir Frederick Adair Roe,

Chief Magistrate A chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admi ...

of the

Bow Street Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, City of Westminster, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles, London, St Giles to Waterloo Bridge. The street was ...

office and head of the

Bow Street Runners The Bow Street Runners were the law enforcement officers of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in the City of Westminster. They have been called London's first professional police force. The force originally numbered six men and was founded in 1 ...

, London's police force, owned and lived in Beach House. Sir Robert Loder,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for New Shoreham, lived at Beach House until his death in 1888. His wife, Lady Maria Georgiana Loder and his eldest son Sir Edmund Loder continued to live at Beach House after Sir Robert's death. Between 1907 and 1910

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

stayed at the house several times while visiting Sir Edmund Loder and his family. In 1917, playwright Edward Knoblock bought the house. His visitors included

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

, J. B. Priestley, and Sir Compton Mackenzie. Knoblock refurbished the interior and forecourt of the property to the designs of Scottish architect Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton, while displaying furniture from the Thomas Hope collection he had bought from a sale at Deepdene in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

in 1936, Beach House was used to house children evacuated from their homes in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

province of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

. The children were fleeing bombing and starvation after the destruction of the town of Guernica by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

. They were supported and cared for entirely by local volunteers. From 1939 to 1945, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Beach House was used by the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

. Beach House is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

The grounds

This beach-side open space surrounding the Regency building of Beach House is situated in Brighton Road and was purchased by Worthing Borough Council in December 1927 and laid out in 1937-1938. The grounds are 2.78 acres (11265.25 sq. m) and have a playground, two tennis courts and a car park.Beach House Grounds
Beach House gives its name to nearby Beach House Park, opposite Beach House, one of the world's best-known venues for

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

References

{{Worthing Grade II* listed buildings in West Sussex Buildings and structures in Worthing Houses in West Sussex

History

The grounds

See also

References