Dale Park was an

English country house 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 town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Madehurst Madehurst is a small village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England on the south slopes of the South Downs in the South Downs National Park. It is three miles (5 km) north-west of Arundel, to the west of the A29 ro ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

History

In 1780,

Sir George Thomas, 3rd Baronet Sir George Thomas, 3rd Baronet (c. 1740 – 6 May 1815), was a British politician. Life Thomas was the son of Sir William Thomas, 2nd Baronet, and he succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1777. In 1780 he create Dale Park near Madehurst by b ...

created Dale Park near Madehurst by buying up separate pieces of land and joining them together into a estate. He married Sophia Montagu, daughter of Admiral John Montagu and Sophia Wroughton, on 20 December 1782. The lived in Madehurst Lodge during the 1780s whilst their new house was constructed by the architect Joseph Bonomi. The house is thought to have still been under construction in 1791. John Smith, MP for

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

, bought the estate in 1825. He died there on 20 January 1842, He was succeeded by his son

John Abel Smith John Abel Smith (2 June 1802 – 7 January 1871) was a British Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester and Midhurst. He was the son of John Smith who preceded him as one of the members of parliament for Midhurst. Smith married Anne Jervoise, ...

, who subsequently became a financier and politician. In 1848, the house was sold to James Hamilton, Marquis of Abercorn. The Smith family continued to own land on the estate through the 19th century. In 1860, the house was sold to John Charles Fletcher. He died on 9 March 1875 and the estate was inherited by his son, Charles John Fletcher, who lived at Dale Park until at least 1914. The house was also the birthplace of the writer

Theodora Elizabeth Lynch Theodora Elizabeth Lynch, born Foulks (1812–1885) was an English poet and novelist. Biography Theodora Elizabeth Foulks was the daughter of Arthur Foulks and his wife, Mary Ann McKenzie. She born at Dale Park, Madehurst, Sussex, in 1812 ...

in 1813. She was the daughter of Mary Ann and Arthur Foulks. Foulks owned 400 slaves and a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Madehurst Cricket Club was formed in 1923, with its headquarters at Dale Park. The club disbanded after the house was demolished. By the 1930s, Dale Park was in financial difficulty. The estate was bought by J H & F W Green Ltd in 1958. Although consideration had been given to listing the property, the local council did not object to its demolition. This took place around 1960.

References

External links

Dale Park
at Parks and Garden UK {{coord, 50.88271, -0.61652, region:GB, display=title Country houses in West Sussex Buildings and structures in West Sussex British country houses destroyed in the 20th century