Ashburnham Place

Ashburnham Place is an English country house, now used as a Christian conference and prayer centre, five miles west of Battle, 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,^[1] and only a drastically reduced part of the building now remains standing.

Early history

The village of

Baron Ashburnham in 1689. The house was largely rebuilt to designs of the neo-Palladian architect Stephen Wright^[2] and the local direction of the builder John Morris of Lewes, ca 1757–61.^[3]

Design

The park, covering some 200 acres (0.81 km²) and including three large lakes around the house, was laid out by the landscape architect

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.^[6]

Internally, the house had a mix of styles, with a fine staircase by

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.^[7]

The gardens of Ashburnham Place are Grade II* listed on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.^[8]

Later history

John Ashburnham and his two wives, Church of St Peter, Ashburnham, Sussex

By the late 19th century, the family was under financial pressure, and offered to sell the library, including its collection of

Second World War, and dry rot set in.^[10]

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.

death duties of £427,000. The contents of the house were sold at auction at Sotheby's 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.^[10]

The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England^[12] and they are a Site of Special Scientific Interest.^[13]

Ashburnham today

Meanwhile, Bickersteth established a prayer centre in the stable block. He gave the remaining parts of the house, and 220 acres (0.89 km²) of parkland, to the Ashburnham Christian Trust in April 1960.^[14] It is operated as a Christian conference and prayer centre.

References

^ ^a ^b Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "George Dance".
^ Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "Stephen Wright".
^ Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "John Morris".
^ "Orangery Tea Room". Ashburnham Place. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
^ Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995: s.v. "Robert Adam".
^ Dorothy Stroud, George Dance, Architect 1745-1825 (London) 1971; Colvin 1995: s.v. "George Dance".
^ The archives were summarized by F.W. Steer, The Ashburnham Archives (Lewes, Sussex) 1958 (noted in Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "Lewis Vulliamy").
^ Historic England, "Ashburnham Place (1000145)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 26 September 2016
^ Peter H. Reid, "The Decline and Fall of the British Country House Library" Libraries & Culture 36.2, Spring 2001, pp. 345-366.
^ ^a ^b Beckett, Matthew. "England's lost country houses - Ashburnham Place". www.lostheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
^ "Letters from Lady Catherine Ashburnham, Ashburnham Place in Ashburnham, to Rupert Gunnis". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
^ Historic England, "Ashburnham Place (1229643)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 February 2016
^ "Designated Sites View: Ashburnham Park". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
^ "History of Ashburnham Place - Ashburnham Place". Retrieved 15 March 2023.

External links

50°54′19″N 0°24′5.3″E / 50.90528°N 0.401472°E / 50.90528; 0.401472

[bdba:GD-1] Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "George Dance".

[2] Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "Stephen Wright".

[3] Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "John Morris".

[4] "Orangery Tea Room". Ashburnham Place. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

[5] Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995: s.v. "Robert Adam".

[6] Dorothy Stroud, George Dance, Architect 1745-1825 (London) 1971; Colvin 1995: s.v. "George Dance".

[7] The archives were summarized by F.W. Steer, The Ashburnham Archives (Lewes, Sussex) 1958 (noted in Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995 s.v. "Lewis Vulliamy").

[NHLEGarden-8] Historic England, "Ashburnham Place (1000145)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 26 September 2016

[9] Peter H. Reid, "The Decline and Fall of the British Country House Library" Libraries & Culture 36.2, Spring 2001, pp. 345-366.

[lostheritage-10] Beckett, Matthew. "England's lost country houses - Ashburnham Place". www.lostheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

[11] "Letters from Lady Catherine Ashburnham, Ashburnham Place in Ashburnham, to Rupert Gunnis". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

[NHLEHouse-12] Historic England, "Ashburnham Place (1229643)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 February 2016

[13] "Designated Sites View: Ashburnham Park". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 10 January 2019.

[14] "History of Ashburnham Place - Ashburnham Place". Retrieved 15 March 2023.

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