Plumpton Place, Lewesham, England

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

Early 20th century formal and extensive water gardens, forming the last collaboration between Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll, laid out around a moated manor house, also remodelled by Lutyens, for Edward Hudson, the founder of Country Life magazine.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Plumpton Place lies immediately to the north of the B2116 Ditchling to Lewes road, which runs east to west along the spring line at the foot of the scarp slope of the South Downs. The village of Plumpton lies about 400 metres to the east. The ornamental gardens around the manor house, Mill House and the lakes, extend to about 4 hectares. The site slopes gently down from north to south. To the west and north the site is bounded by close-board fencing and the access road, buildings and playing field of Plumpton College. To the north-east and east, the gardens open onto pasture land and housing in Plumpton village. To the south the gardens are sheltered by a belt of mature 19th century holm oak around the moat bank, but beyond a field and the road the South Downs are visible, rising sharply to 200 metres.

REFERENCES used by English Heritage

Country Life, 73 (20 May 1933), pp 522-528; 173 (19 May 1983), p 1324; no 34 (26 August 1993), p 49

Victoria History of the County of Sussex VII, (1940), pp 109-111

I Nairn and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex (1965), p 584

D O' Neill, Lutyens' Country Houses (1980), pp 137, 147

J Brown, Gardens of a Golden Afternoon (1982), pp 148-150

P Beales, Vision of Roses (1996), p 199

Archival items

Copies of Jekyll's planting plans and correspondence are held on microfiche at the National Monuments Record (item 222), (originals held at Reef Point, USA).

Records of Wells and Co, Builders, of Plumpton Green, containing various plans (some annotated by Lutyens) relating to the layout of the garden and the construction of the buildings, c 1927-1935 (AMS 5773), (East Sussex County Record Office)

Description written: July 1998

Edited: March 2000