Normanhurst Court was a large manor house in the village of

Catsfield Catsfield is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is located six miles (9.7 km) north of Bexhill, and three miles (5 km) southwest of Battle. The village was first documented in the Domesday B ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

History

The building of the house was initiated by

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

, one of the leading railway builders of the nineteenth century.Normanhurst Court - Battle's Prisoner of War Camp
/ref> The works, which were carried out by Lucas Brothers, were completed shortly after he died in 1870Adorning the rolling Sussex Countryside
Sussex Notebook and the house was occupied by Lord Brassey, his son. The house was designed to resemble a French Chateau, and was home of the Brassey family for many years. The house contained some important portraits by Walter Goodman of Lord Brassey, his wife, Lady Anna Brassey, their children, and Thomas Brassey senior.The Herald and Observer September 24th 1870 It was approached by two entrances each with a lodge.Sale particulars - Normanhurst Court in Sussex
/ref> An octagonal water tower rose in the South-West corner of the site. The water tower, a museum and the bachelor's quarters were all situated away from the main building. The estate extended to some with farmhouses and other buildings. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

it was used as a military hospital for wounded soldiers and, then having been used as a girls' school between the wars,'A Tapestry of Battle - its people and their stories'
/ref> it was used as a

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The house was demolished in 1951 and the grounds are now used as a

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

References

External links

View of the House
{{coord, 50.9096, 0.4331, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in East Sussex British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Buildings and structures demolished in 1951 Demolished buildings and structures in England Catsfield