Saint Hill Manor
Saint Hill Manor | ||
---|---|---|
OS grid reference TQ 38237 35883 | | |
Area | West Sussex | |
Built | 1792 | |
Architect | Benjamin Henry Latrobe (attrib.) | |
Architectural style(s) | Late Georgian | |
Owner | Church of Scientology | |
Listed Building – Grade II | ||
Official name | Saint Hill Manor | |
Designated | 2 August 1972 | |
Reference no. | 1249037 | |
Saint Hill Manor is a Grade II listed
Early history
Saint Hill House, as it was originally known, was built in 1792 by
Prior to the extensive modifications made in the late 19th and 20th centuries, the house comprised a three-storey central block and symmetrical two-storey flanking wings, all with hipped roofs behind parapets. Although the design is attributed to Latrobe, the plans have not survived and the details of his involvement are obscure.[3] Local stonemason Henry Pocock is known to have been involved in the building of the house; Crawfurd presented him with a silver trowel, which still survives, inscribed "to Henry Pocock Saint Hill Aug. 1792".[4]
The house is situated on the Saint Hill Estate, 59 acres (239,000 m2) of landscaped gardens overlooking the hills of the
The ownership of the house passed in 1793 to Crawfurd's eldest son Charles, and then in 1814 to his grandson Robert.
The estate and a nearby farm were purchased in 1947 by Sawai Man Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur.[7] Under his ownership, the house became known as Saint Hill Manor.[8]
L. Ron Hubbard purchase
L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology organisation, bought the Saint Hill estate from the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1959 for a reported price of £18,000.[9] He lived there with his family until early 1966 before moving abroad, but never returned following the British government's decision in 1968 to declare him an "undesirable alien".[10]
Under Hubbard's ownership, the house was extensively modified, with a series of extensions and new buildings constructed on the estate during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to accommodate the training facilities and attendant administration functions. The largest is a mock-Norman castle built adjacent to the main manor house after 1968 to provide a purpose-built training facility for Scientology followers. The East Grinstead Urban District Council initially refused
Saint Hill Manor served as Hubbard's organisational headquarters until 1967. It was inaugurated in 1955 and was the site where Hubbard “announced Scientology milestones emerging from his research.” It was also the site of the organisation's first Distribution Centre, which was operative for the organisation's missionary outreach.[12]
In August 1972, Saint Hill Manor was Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.[13]
2015 renovations
The Church of Scientology's renovations on the Saint Hill Manor were completed in the summer of 2015 and are reported to have cost a total of
Following the completion of the renovations, the Church of Scientology purchased seven brand new 29-seater
References
- ISBN 978-1-135-14249-0. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Saint Hill House, Sussex, for Gibbs Crawfurd, variant designs for a house, 1785, unexecuted (13)". collections.soane.org. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-8104-6. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "The Bulletin of the East Grinstead Society" (PDF). No. 96. East Grinstead Society. Winter 2008–09. p. 12.
- ^ "Saint Hill – Survey of English Place-Names". English Place-Name Society. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ Dennison, E.J. (1963). A Cottage Hospital Grows Up: The Story of the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. Anthony Blond. p. 105. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Fashionable and Personal". Kent & Sussex Courier. 5 September 1947.
- ^ "Results for 'Saint Hill Manor'". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Dale, Michael (20 March 1960). "£36 for a box of rubbish". The People.
- ISBN 978-0-691-15805-1. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ISBN 0-233-96375-8.
- ^ ISBN 9789004330542.
- ^ Historic England, "Saint Hill Manor (1249037)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 26 October 2017
- ^ Finnigan, Lexi (7 April 2016). "Tom Cruise moving into Scientology UK headquarters". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "Seven new Enviro200s for Church of Scientology | Alexander Dennis".
External links
- Official website
- Advanced Organization & Saint Hill United Kingdom (official home page)
- Saint Hill Manor (AboutBritain.com)
- L. Ron Hubbard when living in Saint Hill (brief biography) - a favourable biography from a website with links to Church of Scientology
- Scientology.org: L. Ron Hubbard A Chronicle (1959 - 1967)
- Official Scientology UK site
- Saint Hill (Jon Atack, A Piece Of Blue Sky, chapter 2)