Eridge Place

Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Eridge Place
Location: Eridge Place
County: Sussex
Location Type: Countryside - at determined 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

Original house demolished. Still the property of the Neville family.

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 Dates Titles
Neville, Edward 1550-1622 8th Baron
Neville, George 1469-1535 Knight of the , 5th Baron
Neville, Henry 1527-1587 6th Baron

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 c. 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. 05/03/2007 (http://www.theweald.org/)