Venue Type & Location
Performance Spaces
Overview
The Elizabethan brick house on an E-shaped plan is located 9 miles from the coast on the N escarpment of the South Downs.
The present N wing and part of the adjacent E wing date from the early 16th c. but the house has been substantially remodelled and extended in the 18th c. and later. Originally moated, with an Elizabethan gatehouse removed during the 18th c.
Performance History
Probable performance venue. Musicians and a player patronized by George Goring, 1st Baron Goring and later 2nd Earl of Norwich, appeared elsewhere between 1630 and 1642.
Current Status
History of the Venue
1355 Sir Simon de Pierpoint granted a licence to enclose his wood of Danny, part of Hurstpierpoint Manor.
by 1412 Manor in possession of Sir William Bowett and wife Joan, granddaughter of Sir Simon.
before 1448 Acquired by Sir Thomas Dacre (son and heir of the 6th Baron Dacre) via marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Bowett.
1473 Acquired by Sir Richard Fiennes via marriage with Sir Thomas' daughter and heir, Joan Dacre.
1541--58 Dacre lands under forfeiture.
1558 Gregory Fiennes restored to lands and title, becoming 10th Baron Dacre. The former hunting lodge in Danny Park was probably converted as a residence in this period.
1582 George Goring of Ovingdean and Lewes purchased the manor.
1593 Goring remodelled and enlarged the earlier 16th c. L-shaped house, adding the new E facade. Upper stories encased in brick, new S wing and great hall with 2 large bay windows added S of the screens entrance passage on the ground floor in the E block.
1652 George Goring, 2nd Earl of Norwich, sold Danny House and Park to Peter Courthope of Cranbrook, Kent.
1724 Inherited by Barbara Courthope, wife of Henry Campion.
1728 Subsequent alterations made to improve the house included a new S entrance facade with 3 bays and a gabled wing addition to the W. New ceiling added to the remodelled great hall, creating an upper storey. Stone screens in neo-classical style added at the N and S ends of the hall.
early 1940s N wing used to billet officers during World War II.
1947 Leased by the Campion family.
1956 Lease assumed by Mutual Households Association (later the Country Houses Association) for conversion to serviced retirement apartments.
1984 Sold to the Country Houses Association.
2004 Purchased by Richard and Rachael Burrows to maintain as retirement apartments.
Record Source
REED Cambridge 1.634; Coventry 444
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Goring, George | 1585-1663 | Baron Goring |
| Goring, George | 1585-1663 | Earl of Norwich |
Bibliographic Sources
- D.,A. 'Danny, Sussex, The Seat of Mr. William Henry Campion.'. Country Life 33 (22 March 1913): 418--24.
- Department of the Environment. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Mid-Sussex (former Rural District of Cuckfield). Np: Department of the Environment, 1983
- Ellis, William Smith. 'Descent of the Manor of Hurstpierpoint and of its Lords.'. Sussex Archaeological Collections 11 (1859): 50--88.
- Ellis, William Smith. The Parks and Forests of Sussex, Ancient and Modern, Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive. Lewes: H. Wolff, 1885
- Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History, Antiquities, and Topography of the County of Sussex. 2 vols. Lewes: Nichols & Son, 1835
- Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History and Antiquities of Lewes And its Vicinity. 2 vols. Lewes: J. Baxter, 1824--7
- Lower, Mark Antony. A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal. 2 vols. Lewes; London: Geo. P. Bacon; John Russell Smith, 1870
- Nairn, Ian, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Sussex. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1965
- Salzman, L.F., C.R.J. Currie and T.P. Hudson. The Victoria History of the County of Sussex. 8 vols. London: Oxford UP, 1905--7 [vols 1--2], 1935 [3], 1953 [4], 1997 [5], 1980--7 [6], 1940 [7], 1937 [9]
- Wolseley, Viscountess [Louisa Wolseley]. 'Historic Houses of Sussex: Danny.'. Sussex County Magazine 1 (October 1927): 457--61.