Buckhurst Park, Sussex
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Buckhurst Park is an
English 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 ...
and landscaped park in
Withyham Withyham is a village and large civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The village is situated 7 miles south west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Crowborough; the parish covers approxi ...
, East Sussex. It is the seat of
William Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr William Herbrand Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr ( ; born 10 April 1949) is a British businessman and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was styled Lord Buckhurst from 1976 until 9 February 1988, when he inherited the earldom. Early life ...
. The house is a 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 open to the public. The park, landscaped by
Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intric ...
, is Grade II* listed in the
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...
{{R from move ...
. There are formal gardens which were laid out by
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
and planted by
Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...
.


Early history

In the year 1086, according to the 11th Earl De La Warr, Buckhurst formed part of an estate that was recorded in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
as belonging to "Ralph de Dene (whose grandfather was cupbearer to King
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
) that... passed to the Sackville family – Lords Buckhurst, Earls and Dukes of Dorset, and
Earls De La Warr Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
– through the marriage of Ralph's descendant, Ela de Dene to Jordan de Sackville in 1140." The 7th Earl De La Warr, writing in 1857, recorded that a well-built dwelling house and garden had been mentioned in 1274, and that a deer park on the estate was mentioned in the 14th century, during the reign of
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
. A land survey of the Barony of Buckhurst in 1597–1598 recorded that Lord Buckhurst's property was divided into two parks: the Great Park of Buckhurst and the Little Park of Buckhurst, which were also called Buckhurst Park and Stonelands Park. The original mansion stood in Buckhurst Park, on 1,150 acres of "land in meadow pasture and wood... ndfor the sustenance and maintenance of deere". Stonelands Park contained 520 wooded acres including Stonelands Lodge, a hunting lodge consisting of a house with a barn and a garden; a relation, Andrew Sackville, resided there as the keeper of the park. Buckhurst Place, the original
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
, was a grand, partly-moated courtyard house in Buckhurst Park. The beauties of the house and estate in 1579 were praised in a Latin poem by the Scottish academic Hercules Rollock.William Steven, ''The History of the High School of Edinburgh'' (Edinburgh, 1849), p.16
Hercules Rollock, 'Sylva VI: ad Generosissimum equitem, Torquatum Thomam Sacvillum', Bridging the Continental Divide, University of Glasgow
/ref> Buckhurst was the home of the Sackville family until it was vacated in the early 1600s by
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (153619 April 1608) was an English statesman, poet, and dramatist. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer. Biography Early lif ...
. Thomas Sackville was a cousin of
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
through the family of her mother,
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...
. (identifying Thomas Sackville as the son of the Queen's great-aunt, who was the sister of the Queen's grandfather Thomas Boleyn) His court connections resulted in a considerable fortune, enabling him to keep a household staff of at least 220, and to draw up plans for a new and more elaborate mansion on the Buckhurst estate, even prior to his elevation to the titles of Lord Buckhurst and Earl of Dorset. The building was abandoned by about 1605, after Thomas Sackville removed his family and household from Buckhurst Place to
Knole House Knole () is a British country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of Eng ...
in Kent, a large palace granted to him by Queen Elizabeth in 1566. Much of Buckhurst Place was pulled down early in the 17th century, and its materials were employed around 1616–1619 to build an
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
called College for the Poor (now
Sackville College Sackville College is a Jacobean almshouse in town of East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1609 with money left by Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset. Throughout its history it has provided sheltered accommodation for th ...
) at
East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...
, leaving the gateway tower as the only remnant standing. ("the solitary survivor of so much magnificence is the gateway tower")


Stoneland and Buckhurst Park

After moving to Knole House, Sackville continued with plans to build a new house at Buckhurst. Construction of the new house, called "Stoneland," was started in 1603, taking the site of Stoneland Lodge, the former hunting lodge in the smaller park. Upon Sackville's death in 1608, his son
Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (1561–1609) was an English aristocrat and politician, with humanist and commercial interests. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, by Cecily, daughter of John Baker (died ...
, reduced the scope of the original plans but continued construction of a substantial mansion, designed as a residence for the steward, with no formal garden. The residence received considerable additions in the mid-18th century by
Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset (18 January 168810 October 1765) was a British politician who served as Lord President of the Council from 1745 to 1751. He also twice served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1730 to 1737 and aga ...
, who used Stoneland as an occasional summer retreat. The present house is dated to that period; according to the Sussex Record Society, the "former Stoneland Lodge, now called Buckhurst House, asbuilt in 1743". The Duke of Dorset's third son,
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville Major general George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785) was a British Army officer, politician, and peer who served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1775 to 1782. Serving in the North ministry ...
, took the house as his summer residence until his death in 1785. The house has since been much remodelled, notably in the early 19th century by an Elizabethan-style renovation for Arabella, Duchess of Dorset and her second husband, Lord Whitworth, who occupied the house and improved both it and the grounds. The Duchess incorporated into the house's grounds a portion of the larger park which had belonged to Buckhurst Place, and discarded the name Stoneland, giving to the entire estate the name Buckhurst Park. Buckhurst Park was landscaped in 1830–1835 by
Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intric ...
, whose landscape plans for the park were embodied in one of his "Red Books", (gives client as
George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr George John Sackville-West, 5th Earl de la Warr, PC (26 October 1791 – 23 February 1869), styled Viscount Cantelupe until 1795, was a British courtier and Tory politician. Background Sackville-West was the son of John West, 4th Earl De ...
) and the remodelling of the house was carried out to designs by his son, John Adey Repton. The Duchess of Dorset also commissioned a lakeside walk of shrubs and ornamental trees, along with a boathouse, from landscape designer Lewis Kennedy, noted for the
Empress Josephine The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
's formal gardens at
Château de Malmaison The Château de Malmaison () is a French château situated near the left bank of the Seine, about west of the centre of Paris, in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison. Formerly the residence of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, along with the Tui ...
. In the early decades of the 20th century, the estate was leased for over 25 years to Robert Henry Benson (1850–1929), a merchant banker and art collector, who continued to make improvements to the house. Finding the house and grounds very much as Repton had left them, in 1902 he called upon architect
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
to add an extensive wing. Lutyens later credited his decades-long appointment as architect of
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, the grand central area of which is still known as
Lutyens' Delhi Lutyens' Delhi is an area in New Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was entrusted with the vast majority of the architectural design and buildings of the city that subsequently e ...
, to a chance meeting at a country-house party at Buckhurst during Benson's tenure. (citing a statement made by Lutyens to Christopher Hussey, his biographer) The wing added by Lutyens has since been demolished, but a sunken basin opposite its former "New Room" survives, and surrounding gardens by
Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...
adjoining it were later carefully recreated from Jekyll's planting plans, rediscovered in a drawer at Buckhurst. Lutyens' preferred Brunswick fig trees also survived the demolition. , Buckhurst Park is owned by the 11th Earl De La Warr, and is made available to the public for weddings, corporate events, and a variety of outdoor pursuits. Herds of cattle, sheep, and pigs are raised on the estate, and Lady De La Warr is the owner of South Park Stud, which breeds pedigreed Shetland ponies on the estate.


The Hundred Acre Wood

Within the Buckhurst Park estate is the "
Hundred Acre Wood The Hundred Acre Wood (also spelled as 100 Aker Wood, Hundred-Acre Wood, and 100 Acre Wood; also known as simply "The Wood") is a part of the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's ...
," an area that was separated from
Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald National Landscape. It is situated south of London in the county East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation of above sea level, its ...
by disafforestation in 1678, when Stoneland was in the possession of
Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (24 January 164329 January 1706) was an English politician, courtier and poet. Early life Sackville was born on 24 January 1643, son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (1622–1677). His mother was th ...
. The writer
A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-th ...
, who lived nearby at Cotchford Farm,
Hartfield Hartfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish also includes the settlements of Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest. Geography The main ...
, made the Hundred Acre Wood famous as the setting of the
Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...
stories.


Notes


External links


Buckhurst Park

Weddings at Buckhurst Park
{{coord, 51.0950, 0.1418, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed buildings in East Sussex Grade II listed houses Country houses in East Sussex Grade II* listed parks and gardens in East Sussex Works of Edwin Lutyens in England Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll Gardens by Humphry Repton Withyham