Buckwell Place (formerly Herstmonceux Rectory) is a

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 ...

within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Herstmonceux Herstmonceux ( , , or ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, which includes Herstmonceux Castle. The Herstmonceux Medieval Festival is held annually in August. History The name comes from Anglo-Sax ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, England. It is a privately owned

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 ...

, and is not open to the public. Buckwell Place was the childhood home of the travel-writer and

raconteur A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society. ...

Augustus Hare Augustus John Cuthbert Hare (13 March 1834 – 22 January 1903) was an English writer, painter, and raconteur. Early life He was the youngest son of Francis George Hare of Herstmonceux, East Sussex, and Gresford, Flintshire, Wales, and ...

, and his uncle, the theologian

Julius Charles Hare Julius Charles Hare (13 September 1795 – 3 January 1855) was an English theological writer. Early life He was born at Valdagno, near Vicenza, in Italy. His parents were Francis Hare-Naylor and the painter Georgiana Shipley, a daughter of ...

, who entertained a number of "eminent victorians", namely

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

History

Rev. Robert Hare - of the Hare family who owned nearby

Herstmonceux Castle Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built castle, dating from the 15th century, near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England. It is one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England. The castle was renowned for being one of the fi ...

- built the original wing of the house in 1792 as a rectory for himself. His nephew, the

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

later occupied the house and extended it in 1833, by constructing a parlour wing and bedroom above. Julius Hare also constructed a domed conservatory between the original wing and the new parlour wing. It has been written that Julius Hare's library at Buckwell Place was "famous" and he entertained a number of "eminent victorians" including the

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Julius Hare was known to have collected a number of important books and paintings at Buckwell Place, which were later bequeathed to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and then subsequently to the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

Julius Hare had a nephew, the travel-writer and

, who was born in 1834, in Rome. Augustus Hare was adopted by his aunt Maria (the widowed sister-in-law of Julius), after his parents renounced all further claim to him. Augustus was then brought up and home-educated by Maria Hare at Julius Hare's house, the newly extended Buckwell Place. Augustus wrote about his childhood at Buckwell Place in his autobiography, ''The Story of My Life'' (1896-1900). After Julius Hare's death in 1855, the house was occupied by the Rev. Henry Wellesley, an illegitimate nephew of the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. Wellesley constructed a service wing to the west in c.1860. Little is known about the history of Buckwell Place following the death of Wellesley, but it remains a private house today and is no longer a rectory. In 1932, the house was still known as ''Herstmonceux Rectory'', but by 1937, was listed as ''Buckwell Place''.

Architecture

Buckwell Place consists of the original rectory built by Rev. Robert Hare in 1792, the extensions - including the domed conservatory - by Julius Hare in 1833 and the service wing built by Rev. Henry Wellesley in c.1860. The architect is unknown, and likely to have been a local builder. The northeast entrance front was constructed in 1792. It has two storeys and four bays. The front door features a

Gibbs surround A Gibbs surround or Gibbs Surround is a type of architectural frame surrounding a door, window or niche in the tradition of classical architecture otherwise known as a rusticated doorway or window. The formula is not fixed, but several of th ...

, set within a curved recess. The southeast garden front is similarly of two storeys and four bays. The southwest front exhibits the parlour wing built in 1833 by Julius Hare, which has a canted bay window and

balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

above. To the west of the house lies the range constructed in c.1860 by Rev. Henry Wellesley, with a set of tripartite windows to the ground floor. Between the southeast garden front and the southwest parlour wing, Julius Hare constructed a domed conservatory in 1833 for the display of

ferns The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

and other tropical plants. The house retains its original curved staircase, along with the 1833 marble fireplace surround in Julius Hare's library and its bookcases.

References

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External links

Photograph of Buckwell Place's stables from Historic England's archive
Country houses in East Sussex Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in East Sussex Herstmonceux