Wiston House is a 16th-century Grade I listed building set in the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

on the south coast of England, surrounded by over of parkland in Wiston,

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 ...

. It is the home of

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and overs ...

, an executive agency of the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

. Originally built in two storeys to an irregular floor plan, substantial parts of the house have since been demolished and replaced and additional wings added. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The house was built for

Thomas Shirley Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 – c. 1634) was an English soldier, adventurer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1622. His financial difficulties drove him into privateering which culminated in his captur ...

in about 1576 and substantially enlarged by

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

in the early 19th century. It was captured first by the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

and then by the Parliamentarians during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. It was bought by Sir John Fagg in 1649 and then acquired by Sir Charles Goring, the husband of Fagg's great-granddaughter, in 1743. 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 grounds were used as a camp by the 10th battalion

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fus ...

as they prepared for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Since 1951 the house has been the base of

, an executive agency of the

providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Wiston House is still owned by the Goring family, who open the grounds every year to the Big Church Festival (previously known as the "Big Church Day Out").

The Church of St Mary

Close to the house is the Parish Church of St Mary, a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building. The church comprises a chancel, a south chapel, twin naves and a tower. Mainly dating from the 14th century, it was heavily restored by architect Gordon MacDonald Hills in 1862. The south chapel contains a brass dated 1426 to Sir John de Braose and the tombs of the Shirley family.

References

{{coord, 50, 53, 59, N, 0, 21, 32, W, region:GB, display=title Country houses in West Sussex Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex