Firle Place is a manor house in Firle, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The Gage family have owned the land at Firle since acquiring it from the Levett family in the 15th century. The manor house was first built in the late 15th century by Sir John Gage, who made Firle Place his principal home. He held many high offices, including Constable of the Tower and was an executor of Henry VIII's will.
The external cladding of the building is Georgian, using Caen Stone to make it look like a classical French Chateau. This work was completed by Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet who inherited the house in 1713 and the house is set in typically open parkland. The interior of the house however is Tudor in style and circulates around a central courtyard. The house has an extensive collection of paintings, porcelain and furniture, including works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Van Dyck, Raphael, Puligo, Zoffany and Teniers.
During World War I, students from the nearby Southover Manor School in Lewes were housed here, and during World War II, Canadian soldiers were quartered here.
Open to the public during the summer months, the house and grounds area also used as a film and television location, it has featured in shows, including the BBC's Jonathan Creek, the three-part miniseries The Line of Beauty and the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. [1] Since 2017, Channel 4's Bake Off: The Professionals (previously Bake Off: Crème de la Crème when on the BBC) has filmed its series at the house annually.
Since the 15th century the Gages have lived at Firle, following the marriage of William Gage to Agnes Bolney whose family had previously owned the seat at Firle. (The Bolneys held the lordship of Firle briefly after acquiring it from the bankrupt lord of the manor Thomas Levett.) This holding was further expanded by their son Sir John Gage who inherited land belonging to his father-in-law, Sir Thomas St Clere. In 1479 a second John Gage was born and it was he who became a ward of the Duke of Buckingham when his father died in 1496.
Sir John became quite prominent at the court of King Henry VIII and even accompanied the king on an expedition to France. Following such campaigns and his competence in battle he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the King. Sir John also served as a key figure in the dissolution of the monasteries in Sussex, despite the fact that he remained a Catholic.
Sir John's son, Edward, later became a Knight of the Bath and the Sheriff of Sussex and in 1556 oversaw the execution of the 17 "Sussex Martyrs" during the Marian Persecutions of 1555–57.
The Gage Baronetcy was created for John Gage (d. 1633) in 1622. The 7th Baronet, Sir William Gage (1695–1744), was notable for his interest in cricket, particularly in Sussex. It is often thought that beginnings of what is now Firle Cricket Club started with Sir William. In 1754 this title of Baronet was raised for Irish-born Thomas Gage to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Gage and Viscount Gage.
Another notable Gage was General Thomas Gage, who was made Commander in Chief of the British forces in North America. Following the outbreak of the American War of Independence he was relatively successful, but after disastrous losses at the Battle of Bunker Hill he was replaced. His son, also called Thomas Gage (1781–1820), following what was now a family tradition, was a botanist and traveller and had the flower genus Gagea named after him.
The current Viscount Gage, Henry Nicholas Gage, lives at Firle with his wife, Alexandra Murray Templeton.
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument.
Earl of Winchilsea is a title in the Peerage of England. It has been held by the Finch-Hatton family of Kent, and united with the title of Earl of Nottingham under a single holder since 1729.
Baron FitzWalter is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 24 June 1295 for Robert FitzWalter. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines.
Viscount Gage, of Castle Island in the County of Kerry of the Kingdom of Ireland, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1720 for Thomas Gage, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Gage, of Castlebar in the County of Mayo, also in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1744 he also succeeded his cousin as eighth Baronet, of Firle Place. The titles remain united. The Gage family descends from John Gage, who was created a baronet, of Firle Place in the County of Sussex, in the Baronetage of England on 26 March 1622. His great-grandson, the seventh Baronet, represented Seaford in Parliament. He was succeeded by his first cousin, Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage, the eighth Baronet. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Minehead and Tewkesbury and also served as Governor of Barbados. In 1720, 24 years before succeeding in the baronetcy, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Gage and Viscount Gage. His second son was the military commander the Hon. Thomas Gage.
Fawsley is a hamlet and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population at the 2001 census was 32. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of Charwelton.
Firle is a village and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. Firle refers to an old-English/Anglo-Saxon word fierol meaning overgrown with oak. Although the original division of East Firle and West Firle still remains, East Firle is now simply confined to the houses of Heighton Street, which lie to the east of the Firle Park. West Firle is now generally referred to as Firle although West Firle remains its official name. It is located south of the A27 road four miles (9 km) east of Lewes.
Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage of High Meadow, Gloucestershire and later Firle Place, Sussex, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons as a Whig for 33 years between 1717 and 1754.
William Hall Gage, 2nd Viscount Gage was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1744 and 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Gage. He was equerry to the Prince of Wales.
Henry Rainald Gage, 6th Viscount Gage, KCVO, was Viscount Gage of Firle Place during much of the 20th century.
Sir William Gage of Firle Place was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1744. He was an early patron of cricket, in association with his friend Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.
Sir John Gage KG was an English courtier during the Tudor period. He held a number of offices, including Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1542–1547), Comptroller of the Household (1540–1547), Constable of the Tower (1540–1556) and Lord Chamberlain (1553–1556).
Hengrave Hall is a Grade I listed Tudor manor house in Hengrave near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England and was the seat of the Kitson and Gage families 1525–1887. Both families were Roman Catholic recusants.
Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, KB, PC was an English peer during the Tudor period. He was a staunch Roman Catholic, but unswervingly loyal to the Crown. Montagu was employed on diplomatic missions to the Pope in Rome and to Spain, and was 'highly esteemed for his prudence and wisdom' by Queen Elizabeth. In spite of his bold opposition to the Acts of Supremacy and Allegiance, which threatened the religious activities of the Roman Catholics, he never lost Queen Elizabeth's favour. He was one of the commissioners who tried Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587. In 1571 he was implicated in the Ridolfi Plot along with two of his Dacre brothers-in-law..
Sir Anthony Browne, KG of Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, both in Sussex, England, was a Member of Parliament and a courtier who served as Master of the Horse to King Henry VIII.
Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from [de] Livet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories.
William Levett was an English clergyman. An Oxford-educated country rector, he was a pivotal figure in the use of the blast furnace to manufacture iron. With the patronage of the English Crown, furnaces in Sussex under Levett's ownership cast the first iron muzzle-loader cannons in England in 1543, a development which enabled England to ultimately reconfigure the global balance-of-power by becoming an ascendant naval force. William Levett continued to perform his ministerial duties while building an early munitions empire, and left the riches he accumulated to a wide variety of charities at his death.
Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molyneux (1594–1636) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629.
William Gage was an English landowner and the father of the Tudor courtier John Gage.
Sir John Gage, 1st Baronet was an English baronet and landowner, and ancestor of the Viscounts Gage.
Sir Edward Gage, 1st Baronet was an English baronet.