Beauport Park
Beauport Park is a house near Hastings, East Sussex, England. It is located at the western end of the ridge of hills sheltering Hastings from the north and east.
Roman occupation
In 1862,
Early history
The first mention of Beauport Park is when
Following Murray's death in 1794, Beauport Park was then purchased by
By 1860, the estate was owned by Sir Charles Lamb's son, Archibald, who leased the house to Thomas Brassey, a leading railway engineer of his day.[5] After Thomas Brassey died in 1870 the lease was inherited by his son who later became Lord Brassey.[5]
Recent history
In 1923 a fire broke out and despite efforts by firemen from Battle and Hastings taking water from nearby ponds, the fire spread rapidly and the entire building was gutted.[5] The house was rebuilt in 1926.[5]
Little is known about the house during the period that follows its reconstruction in 1926 up until World War II, but at the beginning of the war, it was an underground citadel. It consisted of tunnels and chambers, built by the Canadian Army and was intended as a hiding place for a secret resistance army which would have fought behind the German lines following the expected invasion of Britain.[5] After the war, the house became a hotel.[5]
In 1983 the hotel was bought by Ken Melsom, David Robinson and Helena Melsom [6] and in 2005, Duncan Bannatyne opened a health club on the estate. Bannatyne went on to buy the hotel as well in 2007.[7]
The Beauport Park Archaeological Trust was formed in 1996.[1][2] In 1999 it was the subject of a Time Team dig.
The estate currently comprises the hotel, the health club, a riding school, a caravan park, a 186-acre (0.75 km2) golf course and 164 acres (0.66 km2) of surrounding woodland.[5]
References
- ^ JSTOR 526050.
- ^ a b c "Beauport Park, East Sussex". OpenLearn. Open University. 22 June 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "Arthur Gerald Norcott Brodribb, M.A., Ph.D Obituary". Society of Antiquaries of London. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- Wealden Iron Research GroupData Site. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Beauport Park – General Description (archive, 2010), Wild England Project
- ^ Historic Sussex hotel carries £4m price tag Caterer search, 26 October 2006
- ^ Health club operator buys hotel next door in Sussex Caterer Search, 26 July 2007
- ^ "Beauport Park, East Sussex". Time Team. Channel 4. 14 February 1999. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "Roman baths on sale for £300,000". BBC News. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ "Romano-British iron working site in Beauport Park, Battle, Rother, East Sussex". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.