Horselunges Manor is a 15th-century manor house in Hellingly,

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 ...

, that was restored in the 20th century. The house was previously owned by Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin, and featured in the film '' The Song Remains the Same'' about the band. Horselunges Manor is a Grade I listed building.

History

Horselunges Manor was built in the late 15th century by John Devenish, whose family owned the house for a number of generations. The house is situated in Hellingly,

, around from the parish church and from Hailsham. The name may have come from the phrase "Hurst-longue", which means "entrance into the wood". In 1541, Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre and his men were involved in an incident whilst poaching near to Horselunges Manor, during which a servant was killed. Fiennes was hanged for the crime. In the 20th century, Peter Grant, the manager of English rock band Led Zeppelin, lived at the house. He paid £80,000 for the house, and spent an additional £10,000 on renovating the property. The house featured in the film '' The Song Remains the Same'' about Led Zeppelin, and Grant suggested basing

Swan Song Records Swan Song Records was a record label launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974. It was overseen by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant and was a vehicle for the band to promote its own products as well as sign artists who f ...

at Horselunges Manor. In the 20th century, the estate was managed by Alfred Linforth Pitman, a veteran of the Battle of Dunkirk. In 1952, the house became a Grade I listed building, and it is currently a private residence.

Architecture

Horselunges Manor is built of timber, and is a two-storey building. The house has an area of , and is surrounded by a moat, and has a total of of farmland. It may have been built in a quadrangle, though only one side now remains. The house is unusual in that the halls of the buildings do not have aisles. The house was altered in the 16th century, which may have been when the original hall was removed from the house. At that time, a staircase was added to the house. In the 18th century, a stables was built adjacent to the house out of red

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. Attached to the main house, there is a chantry chapel. The house was restored in 1925 by architect

Walter Godfrey Walter Hindes Godfrey, CBE, FSA, FRIBA (1881–1961), was an English architect, antiquary, and architectural and topographical historian. He was also a landscape architect and designer, and an accomplished draftsman and illustrator. He was ...

. The west side of the estate has a walled garden; historically, the south side of the manor also had a walled garden, though the walls no longer exist. In the 20th century, there was a topiary garden, the remnant of which exist nowadays.

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in East Sussex Grade I listed houses Houses completed in the 15th century Houses in East Sussex Hellingly