Ashburnham Place, Battle, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.  

An 18th century landscape park and pleasure grounds improved by Lancelot Brown, the structure of which survives, and with significant 19th century formal gardens and planting.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Ashburnham Place lies on the north-west side of the A271 Lewes to Battle road, about 5 kilometres west of Battle and 8 kilometres north-west of the coast at Bexhill. The registered site covers about 200 hectares and is bounded along the whole of its south side, which is largely enclosed from view by internal woodland, by the A271, with a landscape of farmland and small hedged fields beyond. A minor lane (Penhurst Lane) skirts the east boundary which is screened from views eastwards by woodland beyond the lane. The north, north-east and west boundaries follow, respectively, the upper course of the Ashbourne stream, a tributary and the road north to Dallington village. These boundaries give onto wooded farmland slopes beyond. With minor exceptions, including a subsequently straightened section of the A271, the site boundaries remain as recorded on Gardner and Gream's map of Sussex of 1795.

The western half of the site lies on both slopes of the shallow valley of the Ashbourne which runs from north-east to south-west. The land rises irregularly and quite steeply on either side of the valley. The eastern half occupies a high, rounded ridge which rises above the valley to the north-east. Views from the house and pleasure grounds are contained within the valley.

REFERENCES

Country Life, 39 (22 January 1916), pp 112-118; (29 January 1916), pp 144-151; 113 (16 April 1953), pp 1158-1160; (23 April 1953), pp 1248-1250; (30 April 1953), pp 1334-1338

Sussex County Magazine 7, (1933), pp 6-13; 27, (1953), pp 566-574

Victoria History of the County of Sussex IX, (1937), pp 126-127

Architectural Review, 96 (December 1944), pp 159-162

I Nairn and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex (1965), pp 400, 409-410, 468

D Stroud, George Dance (1971), pp 216-219

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 400-401, pls 40B, 41A, B

A G Kinghorn (or Kingham), Thesis on Ashburnham Place (1979) [copy at Ashburnham Place]

Garden History 17, no 2 (1989), pp 176-177

Dr O Johnson, The Trees at Ashburnham Place (1994) [copy on EH file]

Ashburnham Place, Grounds and Gardens, guidebook, (Ashburnham Christian Trust, nd)

Maps

[all held in East Sussex Record Office]

Anthony Everenden, An exact and perfect Survey and view of the Demesnes Landes of the mannor of Ashbornham..., 1638

Edward Elphick, A map and Description of a parcel of land scituate Lying and being in the Parish of Ashburnham in the County of Sussex..., 1717

R Budgen, An Actual Survey of the County of Sussex ..., 1724

W Gardner and T Gream, A topographical map of the County of Sussex..., 1" to 1 mile, surveyed 1795

Tithe map of Ashburnham parish, c 1840

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1873-1875

    2nd edition published 1899

    3rd edition published 1910

    4th edition published 1931

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1873-1875

    2nd edition published 1909

    3rd edition published 1930

Archival items

Plans and drawings by Lancelot Brown for the alterations at Ashburnham Place, dated 1767 (ASH 4458, ASH 4357(63), (East Sussex Record Office)

Description written: January 1997

Amended: July 1998, June 1999

Edited: February 2000