Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye,

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 ...

, England, and in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The house is run as a

writer's house museum Writers' homes (sometimes writer's, author's or literary houses) are locations where writers lived. Frequently, these homes are preserved as historic house museums and literary tourism destinations, called writer's home museums, especially when t ...

. It has been the home of many writers, including

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

from 1897 to 1914, and later E.F. Benson.

History and setting for books

Lamb House was built in 1722 by James Lamb, a wealthy wine merchant and local politician.''Henry James and Lamb House'', The National Trust Guide Book In the winter of 1726 King George I took refuge at the house after his ship was washed ashore at nearby Camber Sands. James Lamb gave up his bedroom for the King, while Mrs Lamb gave birth to a baby boy during the night. The child was named George and the king consented to be the boy's godfather. A detached Garden Room, with a large bay window overlooking the street, was built at right angles to the house in 1743, and originally served as a banqueting room. Both

and E. F. Benson later used the Garden Room as a base for their writing during the summer months. The Garden Room was destroyed by a German bomb in 1940. Benson wrote lovingly of both the garden and house, which he renamed "Mallards", in his popular ''

Mapp and Lucia ''Mapp and Lucia'' is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It bring ...

'' novels. Lamb House is the subject of

Joan Aiken Joan Delano Aiken (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For ''The ...

's supernatural book ''The Haunting of Lamb House'' (1993), comprising three novellas about residents of the house at different times, including James and Benson (both of whom also wrote ghost stories). Other tenants have included the novelist

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus'' in 1947 and '' The River'' in ...

, the author and academic A. C. Benson, the author and politician

H. Montgomery Hyde Harford Montgomery Hyde (14 August 190710 August 1989), born in Belfast, Ireland, was a barrister, politician (Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast North), prolific author and biographer. He was deselected by his party in 1959, losing his seat in th ...

, the artist and publisher Sir

Brian Batsford Sir Brian Caldwell Cook Batsford (18 December 1910 – 5 March 1991) was an English painter, designer, publisher and Conservative Party politician. Born at Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire as Brian Caldwell Cook, he adopted his mother's maiden n ...

, politician

William Mabane, 1st Baron Mabane William Mabane, 1st Baron Mabane (12 January 1895 – 16 November 1969), known as Sir William Mabane between 1954 and 1962, was a British businessman and Liberal/National Liberal politician. Background and education The son of Joseph Greenwood M ...

, the literary agent Graham Watson, the actor

Dominic Rowan Dominic Rowan (born 17 June 1971) is an English television, film and theatre actor. He played CPS prosecutor Jacob Thorne in the ITV crime drama '' Law and Order: UK'' and Tom Mitford in the Channel 4 drama series ''North Square''. Rowan has a ...

and his family, and the writers John Senior and Sarah Philo.

National Trust

In 1950 the widow of Henry James's nephew gave Lamb House to the

. Some of James's personal possessions are on display, and there is an extensive walled garden, designed by Alfred Parsons at the request of Henry James, which is open to the public along with the house. In 2006 Lamb House was subject to extensive exterior refurbishment, including the application of bird control proofing measures to prevent seagulls from nesting and blocking the internal parapet drainage systems. The measures included the use of a new technique of horizontal parallel wires to prevent gulls from landing. Several sections of stonework and the copper roof were replaced. The works lasted for three months, from April to June. As of 2018, the house will no longer be tenanted and the first floor will be open to the public for the first time.

Filming

During summer 2014, Lamb House was used as the fictional "Mallards" for a

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

adaptation of E.F. Benson's ''

''. A temporary replica of the Garden Room was constructed for filming. The series was broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

over three nights in December 2014.

References

External links

Lamb House information at the National Trust
{{coord, 50.9499, 0.7327, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses in East Sussex National Trust properties in East Sussex Biographical museums in East Sussex Historic house museums in East Sussex Literary museums in England Rye, East Sussex Grade II* listed buildings in East Sussex Houses completed in 1722 1722 establishments in England