Eartham House, (also known as Great Ballard Preparatory School ), Chichester, West Sussex, England

The first reference to the establishment of a residence at Eartham was in 1743 when Thomas Hayley purchased a small estate from the heirs of Sir Robert Fag in order to build a house for his summer retirement. After his death in 1775, the house was occupied by his son William Hayley who was a poet.

William Hayley enlarged the house as a villa and ...'embellished the domain in the simple and genuine taste of a ferme ornee as first introduced by Shenstone... the Grove of Eartham was made "academic" by the frequent visits of the first literary characters of that day, and as the favourite retreat of Cowper "in his happier hour" '.

Other visitors were William Blake, John Flaxman, George Romney and Robert Southey. In 1800, Hayley sold the estate to William Huskisson, MP for Chichester, who greatly enlarged the mansion house, extended the estate to include 300 acres and made alterations to the grounds.

Sir John Ralf Milbanke inherited the property in 1866 and took the name of Huskinsson. The estate then passed to his eldest son Sir Peniston Huskisson-Milbanke in 1879. In 1905 he sold it to Sir William Bird who had the house remodelled by Sir Edwin Lutyens. After Sir William's death in 1950, Eartham House was sold. It became a school in the 1950s and was re-named Great Ballard Preparatory School. 

The early maps of 1778 and 1813 are of limited help in supporting the documentary evidence. The 1778 map shows an open down area, with the road south from Eartham passing close to what appears to be a building on the site of Eartham House. The 1813 map shows a similar situation but with a track from the church and limited tree planting, certainly little evidence of William Hayley's grounds. By 1880 the road had been moved further east, away from the house and extensive woodland plantings and paths are evident.

A description of walk around William Hayley's grounds in 1791 gives an idea of the layout and delights of a garden laid out in the style of a ferme ornee (in Mr Dallaway's opinion)...

...'Before the north entrance is a neat lawn well decorated with shrubs, at the end of which is a pleasant circular green-house of rough flint work, intermixed with brick; and at a short distance from this stands the little spire church.

This delightful retirement is situated on the side of a hill, commanding a pleasant view of Chichester, Portsdown Hill, near Portsmouth, the sea, the Isle of Wight, &c. The beautiful walks, made about sixteen years, we are now wandered along; and first, the lower walk to the west, at the end of which you have a picturesque view of the house and church.

Turning northward we came to an oval grotto, formed of rough wood, flint and moss. This is called the entrance into Otway's Walk; a beautiful close shade of a gentle curve, and exquisitely designed for the meditations of a poet. At the end of this is another small grotto. Returning from hence, we ascend a little to the right to an octagonal alcove in the wood, for the purpose of tea drinking &C. Pass from hence through a higher serpentine walk, with various shades and seats; at the end of which is another seat, commanding a fine open view of the prospect before mentioned.

Across the open hill to the north runs from hence a pleasant terrace walk...We next passed through a lovely shade of filberts, and ascended the mount which gave a full view around. To the east, Lord Newburgh's house, (Slindon House) embossed in venerable oaks, is a charming object, and the hills towards the north nobly crowned with wood , are a fine background to the scene. In the same direction are two other elevated walks, one of gravel and the other of grass, with several seats and romantic alcoves. Descending from hence through another serpentine walk to the house, we had a charming peep into the valley, skirted with the wood before mentioned'.

The main historic feature still present is the mount on top of the hill, which must be the one described in 1791. Now overgrown and hidden by yews and turkey oaks it is suffering some erosion from school activities. On the 1880 Ordnance Survey map the mount was situated within a clump of trees in the centre of the parkland on the top of the hill. This would have been a feature on the skyline as viewed from the house, but now it has been lost amongst a band of natural tree regeneration that has joined the east and western blocks of woodland.

Although it was not possible to follow the description of the 1791 walk with certainty, because many of the woodland paths have been lost, it does appear it could have followed an anti-clockwise route along the western boundary (yew walk), past the pond and alcove, up the hill to the mount and then through the eastern woodland back to the house. It seems likely in Hayley's time that the grounds only extended as far south as the mount. The extension of parkland southwards as shown in the 1880 map may have been William Huskisson work.