Venue Type & Location
Overview
Located high in the Sussex Weald on a large wooded estate, little is known about the Neville family's early Tudor residence at Eridge Place.
Performance History
Probable performance venue. Entertainers patronized by Henry and Edward Neville, 5th and 7th Lords Abergavenny, are recorded elsewhere in the later 16th and early 17th c.
Current Status
History of the Venue
1450 Manor inherited by the Neville family.
ca. 1525 Residence built, primarily as a hunting lodge.
ca. 1700 Family ceased to use the house as a residence.
1766 Described by Burr, Tunbridge Wells 6--8, as follows: 'Eridge was then [1606] a hunting seat belonging to Lord Abergavenny, and has ever since continued in the possession of his noble descendants, though it is now reduced to a plain farmhouse. The building is an ancient Gothic structure, that appears, notwithstanding its present ruinous condition, to have been an agreeable retirement from the attendance of a court...on the whole, one can hardly conceive an idea of a place more properly adapted to restore health to a consumptive habit: but then, to counterbalance these advantages, it was situated in one of the most savage parts of the county....'
ca. 1790 Repairs made by Sir Henry Neville, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny.
ca. 1800 New residence in the neo-Gothic style designed by James Wyatt and built around the ruins of the original for the 2nd Earl.
1805 Family relocated to Eridge.
1930s 19th c. castle demolished and a modern house built on the site.
Record Source
REED Bristol 81; Coventry 379; Kent: Diocese of Canterbury 1.198, 268, 2.463, 468, 549, 800; Shropshire1.84; Sussex 120
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Neville, Edward | 1550-1622 | Baron Abergavenny |
| Neville, George | 1469-1535 | Baron Bergavenny |
| Neville, George | 1469-1535 | Knight of the Bath |
| Neville, George | 1469-1535 | Knight of the Garter |
| Neville, Henry | 1527-1587 | Baron Bergavenny |
Bibliographic Sources
- Burr, Thomas Benge. The History of Tunbridge-Wells. London: np, 1766
- Ellis, William Smith. The Parks and Forests of Sussex, Ancient and Modern, Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive. Lewes: H. Wolff, 1885
- Farrant, Sue. 'The Development of Landscape Parks and Gardens in Eastern Sussex <i>c.</i> 1700 to 1820 -- a Guide and Gazetteer.'. Garden History 17.2 (Autumn, 1989): 166--80.
- Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History, Antiquities, and Topography of the County of Sussex. 2 vols. Lewes: Nichols & Son, 1835
- Savidge, Alan. Royal Tunbridge Wells. Tunbridge Wells: Midas Books, 1975
- The Weald of Kent, Surrey & Sussex.