Wakehurst Place

Wakehurst Place is a historic house built by Sir Edward Culpeper in 1590, now owned by the National Trust and administered by Kew Gardens. Originally, it formed a complete courtyard, but the south side was demolished before 1697. In 1848, the east and west sides were shortened by two-thirds and refaced on their south front with old stone, resulting in the current E-shaped layout. The house underwent restoration by Sir Aston Webb for Sir William Boord in 1890, and in 1938, the entire south front was taken down, with stones numbered and carefully restored.

Constructed of Sussex sandstone ashlar, the house features a Horsham slab roof and stands three storeys tall with seven windows. The wings have gables with kneelers, coping, and ball finials at the apex and above the kneelers. The central projection is also three storeys high and topped with a scrolled gable. The ground floor includes a porch with a round-headed doorway supported by Doric columns on pedestals, topped with a cornice and the initials E.C. Above the porch, the first-floor window is flanked by Ionic pilasters and a triangular pediment with statues on either side. There are two gabled dormers on each side of the porch, with the outer ones slightly projecting and having a bay below them on both the ground and first floors. The inner faces of the wings also feature similar dormers. The windows are four-light casements with stone mullions and transoms.

The north-east wing and a one-storey wing on the east were added by the Marchioness of Downshire in 1869-70, and the north porch was added by Sir Aston Webb for Lord Wakehurst in 1903. Inside, the house retains its contemporary staircase, along with panelling, fireplaces, and over-mantels, although some have been repositioned. In the 1830s, notable tenants included Manners Sutton, Speaker of the House of Commons and later Viscount Canterbury, and Sir Alexander Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice.