Ticehurst House Private Clinic

Ticehurst House Private Clinic is a large, L-shaped building, originally an early 19th-century house. The original section is the north-east wing, which has three storeys and five windows. It is stuccoed with cornices above the first and second floors and features a parapet. The glazing bars remain intact, and there is a pointed projection on two sides at the south end. A likely contemporary two-storey, five-window section with a slate roof adjoins this to the south. The main southern portion of the building dates to the mid-19th century and is three storeys high with thirteen windows facing south and six windows facing east. This section is also stuccoed and features an ornamental pierced balustrade to the roof. The south elevation is composed of a central portion and two projecting wings of unequal width, flanked by rusticated quoins. The west wing has a central doorway with engaged Doric columns, while the west front features ten windows, a lower central portion, and a taller wing to the north. A further small L-shaped wing with three windows extends to the north-west.

The house's history is tied to its original use as a private institution for people with mental conditions. Samuel Newington founded the institution in 1792, initially housing fewer than twenty patients. In 1812, Charles Newington built a separate residence, Highlands, within the grounds, which also appears to have accommodated some of the wealthier patients. Following Samuel Newington’s death in 1811, his sons, Charles and Jesse, continued the business, employing men who had served in the Napoleonic Wars to landscape over 40 acres of grounds in 1816. By the late 1820s, Ticehurst was known as one of the more luxurious private asylums, with extensive grounds designed for patient use.