Compton Place, Eastbourne, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Part of the Lordship of medieval Eastbourne, the manor known as Eastbourne Place was acquired by James Burton in 1544. He changed its name to Bourne Place and was the likely builder of the Elizabethan house which became incorporated into the present mansion.

The property passed by marriage in 1644 to the Wilson family who farmed the estate before letting it, in 1718, to Spencer Compton, younger son of the third Earl of Northampton. He purchased it in 1724 and, through his acquaintance with Lord Burlington, commissioned Colen Campbell (1676-1729) to enlarge and remodel the house which he renamed Compton Place. Charles Bridgeman (d 1738) is recorded as working on the site between 1728 and 1738 (Willis 1977). Spencer Compton, ennobled as Lord Wilmington, then later as Viscount Pevensey, died in 1743 and in 1766 a payment was made to Lancelot Brown (1716-1783), for unknown works 'relative to the late Earl of Northampton' (Chatsworth papers).

The house and its grounds passed by the marriage in 1782 of Lady Elizabeth Compton to Lord George Cavendish, son of the fourth Duke of Devonshire. In the late 18th century the grounds were extended by the incorporation of land to the east and south, Humphry Repton (1752-1818) being invited by Lord Cavendish to advise on the landscape. He produced a Red Book in 1803 but his proposals were not, apparently, adopted. Lord Cavendish died in 1843 and by the mid 19th century the grounds had reached their maximum size, through further small extensions to the south-west.

Residential development had begun by 1899 with the building of Fairfield Court on the southern, Meads Road, frontage. The Saffrons Court flats were built on the Compton Place road frontage in 1963 and the housing development of Saffrons Park was begun in 1987/8. The tenth Duke of Devonshire died in 1950. In 1954, Compton Place was leased as its present use as an educational establishment.