Firle Place is a manor house in

Firle Firle (; Sussex dialect: ''Furrel'' ) is a village and civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes district of East Sussex, England. Firle refers to an Old English word ''fierol'' meaning overgrown with oak. Although the original division of ...

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 ...

, United Kingdom. The Gage family have owned the land at Firle since acquiring it from the

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of ...

family in the 15th century. The manor house was first built in the late 15th century by Sir John Gage, who made Firle Place his principal home. He held many high offices, including Constable of the Tower and was an executor of

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

's will.

History

The external cladding of the building is Georgian, using

Caen Stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

to make it look like a classical French Chateau. This work was completed by

Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet Sir William Gage (1695 – 23 April 1744) of Firle Place was a British landowner and politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1722 to 1744. He was an early patron of cricket, in association with his friend Char ...

who inherited the house in 1713 and the house is set in typically open parkland. The interior of the house however is Tudor in style and circulates around a central courtyard. The house has an extensive collection of paintings,

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

and furniture, including works by Gainsborough, Reynolds,

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealt ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, Puligo, Zoffany and Teniers. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, students from the nearby Southover Manor School in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

were housed here, and during

World War II 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 ...

, Canadian soldiers were quartered here. Open to the public during the summer months, the house and grounds area also used as a film and television location, it has featured in shows, including the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

,'' the three-part miniseries '' The Line of Beauty'' and the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Since 2017, Channel 4's '' Bake Off: The Professionals'' (previously ''Bake Off: Crème de la Crème'' when on the

) has filmed its series at the house annually.

The Gage Family

Since the 15th century the Gages have lived at Firle, following the marriage of William Gage to Agnes Bolney whose family had previously owned the seat at Firle. (The Bolneys held the lordship of Firle briefly after acquiring it from the bankrupt lord of the manor Thomas Levett.) This holding was further expanded by their son Sir John Gage who inherited land belonging to his father-in-law, Sir Thomas St Clere. In 1479 a second John Gage was born and it was he who became a ward of the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There were creations of double dukedoms of Bucki ...

when his father died in 1496. Sir John became quite prominent at the court of King Henry VIII and even accompanied the king on an expedition to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Following such campaigns and his competence in battle he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the King. Sir John also served as a key figure in the dissolution of the monasteries in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, despite the fact that he remained a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Sir John's son, Edward, later became a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

and the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

of Sussex and in 1556 oversaw the execution of the 17 "Sussex Martyrs" during the

Marian Persecutions Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558), and in smaller numbers during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–1553), Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and James I (1603 ...

of 1555–57. The Gage Baronetcy was created for John Gage (d. 1633) in 1622. The 7th Baronet, Sir William Gage (1695–1744), was notable for his interest in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, particularly in Sussex. It is often thought that beginnings of what is now Firle Cricket Club started with Sir William. In 1754 this title of

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

was raised for Irish-born

Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator best known for his many years of service in North America, including serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America during the early days ...

to the Peerage of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as Baron Gage and Viscount Gage. Another notable Gage was

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, who was made Commander in Chief of the British forces in North America. Following the outbreak of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

he was relatively successful, but after disastrous losses at the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...

he was replaced. His son, also called

(1781–1820), following what was now a family tradition, was a

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and traveller and had the flower genus '' Gagea'' named after him. The current Viscount Gage, Henry Nicholas Gage, lives at Firle with his wife, Alexandra Murray Templeton.

References

External links

Firle Place website
Grade I listed buildings in East Sussex Country houses in East Sussex Gardens in East Sussex Historic house museums in East Sussex Grade I listed houses

Place Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Of ...

Gage family {{coord, 50, 50, 42, N, 0, 05, 30, E, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title