Brightling Park

Last updated

Brightling Park (previously known as Rose Hill) is a country estate which lies in the parishes of Brightling and Dallington in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is now the home of Grissell Racing, who have operated a racehorse training facility there for more than 30 years. [1]

The 18th-century house is brick-built in two storeys with a nine window north front and stands in some 200ha (490 acres) of parkland. Additional wings added in 1810 were demolished in 1955. 18th-century grade II listed stables and a coach-house to the south-east of the house comprise a single long building. The house is approached by an avenue bounded by ha-has, to the side of which stands a grade II listed alcove or summerhouse. The parkland is Grade II listed [2] whereas Brightling Park House itself is a Grade II* listed building. [3]

Associated with the estate are a number of follies and an observatory, all designed by architect Sir Robert Smirke for John "Mad Jack" Fuller in the early 1800s.

The Obelisk aka Brightling Needle The Obelisk at Brightling - geograph.org.uk - 1600994.jpg
The Obelisk aka Brightling Needle
The Observatory The Observatory - a Fuller Folly - geograph.org.uk - 313439.jpg
The Observatory
The Alcove or Summerhouse stands to the west of the house within the park and is a semicircular alcove built of red brick with a four-centred archway entrance flanked by pairs of interlocking columns. Built in 1803, it is a Grade II listed building. [4]
The Temple, standing within the park 400m to the south-west of the house, is a small circular building consisting of a colonnade surmounted by a dome. It is a Grade II* listed building. [5]
The Obelisk, also known as Brightling Needle, stands some 500m outside the park's perimeter wall on top of Brightling Down and is a Grade II* listed building. [6]
The Observatory was built in 1818 on a high spot outside the park some 150m to the west. It is a T-shaped one storey building built of ashlar with slits for the telescopes. Now a private house, it is also a Grade II* listed building. [7]

History

The first known house on the site, 'Sheperdes', was built between 1540 and 1561 by Michael Martin, who sold the estate in 1582 to Thomas Isted. It then passed in 1608 to John Baker and in 1652 to Edward English, who enlarged the estate before selling it in 1684 to William Peake. After Peake's death in 1685 his sister sold it in 1697 to Thomas Fuller (d.1720), a local industrialist.

The Fuller family fortune was based on the manufacture of iron goods, especially cannons and the like for the Royal Navy, plus a substantial income from sugar produced on their Jamaican slave plantations. Thomas Fuller extended the estate to 95ha (230 acres) and rebuilt the house around 1699. It passed in 1703 to his nephew John Fuller (1680–1745) who married Elizabeth Rose, a Jamaican heiress. Fuller renamed the house Rose Hill in her honour and added an additional 59ha (145 acres) to the estate.

His son, John Fuller II (c 1705–1755), spent heavily on the estate between 1745 and 1755, rebuilding the house and adding the west and the office wings. He also further extended the estate by purchasing another 372ha (920 acres) and created a deer park around the new house. He also planted clumps of trees and built a Chinese Temple and a keep in the grounds.

After John Fuller II's death the estate descended via his brother Rose Fuller to Rose's nephew John, known as "Honest Jack" or "Mad Jack" Fuller. An MP, philanthropist and eccentric, John Fuller commissioned architect Sir Robert Smirke to extend the house around 1800 and to build a number of follies on the estate. A wall was also built, at a cost of some £10,000, right round the park, which had grown to 1530ha (3780 acres).

After John Fuller's death in 1834 the estate passed to his cousin Augustus Fuller who sold it to Percy Tew, who changed its name back to Brightling Park in 1879. It descended in the Tew family until 1953, when it passed to Tew's daughter-in-law, Rosemary Grissell. Death duties caused part of the estate to be sold and partial demolition of the house in 1955. The remaining parkland, of some 200ha (490 acres) is still privately owned and operated as a racehorse training facility.

The Brightling International Horse Trials are held there annually. [8]

Related Research Articles

Wentworth Woodhouse Grade I listed country house in South Yorkshire, England

Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The building has more than 300 rooms, although the precise number is unclear, with 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of floorspace. It covers an area of more than 2.5 acres (1.0 ha), and is surrounded by a 180-acre (73 ha) park, and an estate of 15,000 acres (6,100 ha).

Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire Building in West Bretton, England

Bretton Hall is a country house in West Bretton near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds (2001–2007). It is a Grade II* listed building.

Wimpole Estate Country estate near Cambridge, England

Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about 8+12 miles southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its 3,000 acres (12 km2) of parkland and farmland are owned by the National Trust. The estate is regularly open to the public and received over 335,000 visitors in 2019. Wimpole is the largest house in Cambridgeshire.

Somerleyton Hall Grade II* listed house in Suffolk, United Kingdom

Somerleyton Hall is a country house and 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) estate near Somerleyton and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England owned and lived in by Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton, originally designed by John Thomas. The hall is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England, and its landscaped park and formal gardens are also Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The formal gardens cover 12 acres (4.9 ha). Inspired by Knepp Wildland, Somerleyton is rewilding 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the estate to which he has introduced free-roaming cattle, large black pigs and Exmoor ponies.

Tatton Park Historic estate in Cheshire, England

Tatton Park is an historic estate in Cheshire, England, north of the town of Knutsford. It contains a mansion, Tatton Hall, a medieval manor house, Tatton Old Hall, Tatton Park Gardens, a farm and a deer park of 2,000 acres (8.1 km2). It is a popular visitor attraction and hosts over a hundred events annually. The estate is owned by the National Trust, who administer it jointly with Cheshire East Council. Since 1999, it has hosted North West England's annual Royal Horticultural Society flower show.

Killerton House in Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, England

Killerton is an 18th-century house in Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, England, which, with its hillside garden and estate, has been owned by the National Trust since 1944 and is open to the public. The National Trust displays the house as a comfortable home. On display in the house is a collection of 18th- to 20th-century costumes, originally known as the Paulise de Bush collection, shown in period rooms.

Bramham Park Grade I listed historic house museum in West Yorkshire, England

Bramham Park is a Grade I listed 18th-century country house in Bramham, between Leeds and Wetherby, in West Yorkshire, England.

Adlington Hall Country house in Cheshire, England

Adlington Hall is a country house near Adlington, Cheshire. The oldest part of the existing building, the Great Hall, was constructed between 1480 and 1505; the east wing was added in 1581. The Legh family has lived in the hall and in previous buildings on the same site since the early 14th century. After the house was occupied by Parliamentary forces during the Civil War, changes were made to the north wing, including encasing the Great Hall in brick, inserting windows, and installing an organ in the Great Hall. In the 18th century the house was inherited by Charles Legh who organised a series of major changes. These included building a new west wing, which incorporated a ballroom, and a south wing with a large portico. It is possible that Charles Legh himself was the architect for these additions. He also played a large part in planning and designing the gardens, woodland and parkland, which included a number of buildings of various types, including a bridge known as the Chinese Bridge that carried a summerhouse.

Lytham Hall Historic site in Lytham, Lancashire

Lytham Hall is an 18th-century Georgian country house in Lytham, Lancashire, 1 mile (1.6 km) from the centre of the town, in 78 acres (32 ha) of wooded parkland. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, the only one in the Borough of Fylde.

Oulton Estate

In the early 18th century the Oulton Estate was home to the Egerton family and comprised a manor house and a formal garden surrounded by farmland in Cheshire, England. Later in the century the farmland was converted into a park. The estate is now the site of the motor racing track called Oulton Park.

Norbury Park

Norbury Park is a swathe of mixed wooded and agricultural land associated with its Georgian manor house near Leatherhead and Dorking, Surrey, which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. It occupies mostly prominent land reaching into a bend in the Mole in the parish of Mickleham.

Chilston Park Building in Boughton Malherbe, England

Chilston Park is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. Started in the 15th century, the house has been modified many times and is a Grade I listed building, currently operated as a country house hotel.

Linton Park Grade I listed English country house

Linton Park, formerly Linton Place or Linton Hall, is a large 18th-century country house in Linton, Kent, England. Built by Robert Mann in 1730 to replace a much earlier building called 'Capell's Court' The estate passed through the ownership of several members of Mann's family before coming into the Cornwallis family. The house was enlarged to its current size in 1825.

Fairfield, Stogursey Historic site in Somerset, England

Fairfield House is a historic house in Stogursey, Somerset, England. A house existed on the site from the 12th century and it has been owned by the same family since that time. The current building is largely 16th-century, but has undergone various remodellings since then. It is designated as a Grade II* listed building.

Moseley Hall, Birmingham 18th-century country house

Moseley Hall is a Grade II listed 18th-century country house which was situated in parkland in Moseley, Birmingham. The hall itself is now part of Moseley Hall Hospital and much of the surrounding estate has been developed for roads and housing.

Tring Park

Tring Park is a public open space in Tring, owned by Dacorum Borough Council and managed by the Woodland Trust. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Half of the 264 acres is undulating grassland, grazed by cattle. Part of the park, together with the nearby Oddy Hill, is the 35.6 hectare biological "Oddy Hill and Tring Park" Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Clevedon Hall Victorian mansion in Clevedon, Somerset, England

Clevedon Hall is a mansion with 17 acres (6.9 ha) of land in Clevedon, North Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. It is not to be confused with Cliveden on the Thames near Taplow, nor other houses with similar names.

Abbotswood, Gloucestershire

Abbotswood is a country house and estate near Lower Swell in Gloucestershire, England. It is a grade II listed building and estate, of medieval origins and with remodelling and garden work to the designs of Sir Edwin Lutyens from 1901 onwards.

Homme House 18th-century house in Herefordshire, UK

Homme House is an 18th-century country house in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, UK. Primarily built of brick, it is now used as a wedding venue and is a Grade II* listed building.

Arley House and Gardens

Arley House and Gardens are situated at Upper Arley, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Bewdley, in Worcestershire, England. The gardens, arboretum and parkland are listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens.

References

  1. "Follies of Mad Jack Fuller". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. Historic England. "Brightling Park (1001261)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. Historic England. "Brightling Park (1352916)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  4. Historic England. "THE SUMMERHOUSE OR ALCOVE AT BRIGHTLING PARK TO THE WEST OF THE HOUSE (1044062)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. Historic England. "THE TEMPLE AT BRIGHTLING PARK TO THE SOUTH WEST OF THE HOUSE (1352934)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. Historic England. "BRIGHTLING NEEDLE (1044089)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. Historic England. "THE OBSERVATORY (1277117)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  8. "Brightling Park International Horse Trials". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.

Coordinates: 50°57′48″N0°23′45″W / 50.9632°N 0.3958°W / 50.9632; -0.3958