Halnaker House

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Legend
map legend

Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

18th c. view
19th c. S entrance
S facade
Site plan
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Halnaker House
Location: near Chichester
County: Sussex
Location Type: Town - near town at determined location

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

Located 3 miles NE of Chichester on a rising slope of the South Downs, the fortified medieval manor house of flint rubble and clunch with sandstone ashlar dressings was remodelled on a courtyard plan in the early 16th c. Surrounded by a curtain wall with a 2-storey 14th c. gatehouse and square tower in the S range and a single-storey hall in the W end of the N range.

Most of the S facade with the stone gateway in the centre, a large 13th c. chapel in the E range and the 14th c. hall's E wall with part of the S wall remain.

Performance History

A probable performance venue. No relevant West household records survive but entertainers under the patronage of Thomas West, 9th Baron De La Warr, appeared elsewhere in Kent in the 1530s. It is likely that they also performed at home for their patron.

Current Status

Privately owned and inaccessible to the public. The ruins are part of the estate immediately S of Little Halnaker,a mid-20th c. house.

History of the Venue

12th c. Manor of Halnaker granted to Robert de Haia.

1494 Acquired by Thomas West (later 9th Baron De La Warr), via marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Bonville of Halnaker.

early 16th c. Older medieval fortified house remodelled on a courtyard plan by West, who enriched the hall with decorative features.

ca. 1540 West forced to relinquish Halnaker to the king in exchange for the former abbey of Wherwell, Hampshire. West relocated to Offington, where his father had resided until his death in 1525.

1561 Granted to Henry Fitz Alan, 24th Earl of Arundel.

1566 Manor settled on his son-in-law, John, 6th Baron Lumley.

1587 Sold to Sir John Morley of Saxham, Suffolk.

1752 Following the death of Sir John's great-granddaughter Mary, dowager Countess of Derby, Halnaker inherited by her distant cousin Sir Thomas Dyke Acland. Halnaker ceased to be a significant residence.

1765 Sold to Charles Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond, who merged it with his Goodwood estate.

19th c. Neglected and allowed to decay. Some decorative stonework removed to The Grange, Chichester (built ca. 1840; demolished 1962). Converted for use as tenements.

early 20th c. Purchased by Reginald McKenna, who built a new house near the ruins.

Record Source

REED Kent: Diocese of Canterbury 2.688

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
West, Thomas 1472-1554 Knight of the , 9th Baron , 8th Baron

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Andre, J. Lewis. 'Halnaker House.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 43 (1900): 201–13.
  • Colvin, H.M., John Summerson, Martin Biddle, J.R. Hale and Marcus Merriman, eds. The History of the King's Works: 1485–1660 (Part II). vol 4. London: HMSO, 1982.
  • Ellis, William Smith. The Parks and Forests of Sussex, Ancient and Modern, Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive. Lewes: H. Wolff, 1885.
  • Elwes, Dudley George Cary. A History of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex. London: Longmans & Co., 1876.
  • Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996–2006.
  • Farrant, John H. Sussex Depicted: Views and Descriptions 1600–1800. Sussex Record Society 85. Lewes: Sussex Record Society, 2001.
  • Garner, Thomas, and Arthur Stratton. The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period. 2 vols. London: Batsford, 1911.
  • Godfrey, Walter H. 'The La Warr Family and Halnaker House.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 82 (1942): 59–64.
  • Gravett, Kenneth. 'Proceedings of the Summer Meeting of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Chichester in 1985: Halnaker House.' Archaeological Journal 142 (1986): 64–5.
  • Guy, John. Castles in Sussex. Chichester: Phillimore & Co., 1984.
  • Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History and Antiquities of Lewes And its Vicinity. 2 vols. Lewes: J. Baxter, 1824–7.
  • Howard, Maurice. The Early Tudor Country House: Architecture and Politics 1490–1550. London: George Philip, 1987.
  • Nairn, Ian, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Sussex. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1965.
  • Rouse, James. The Beauties and Antiquities of the County of Sussex. 2 vols. London: The Author, 1825.
  • Salzman, L.F., C.R.J. Currie and T.P. Hudson. The Victoria History of the County of Sussex. Victoria History of the Counties of England. 8 vols. London: Oxford UP, 1905–7 [vols 1–2], 1935 [3], 1953 [4], 1997 [5], 1980–7 [6], 1940 [7], 1937 [9].
  • Steer, Francis W. A Short History and Description of Halnaker House. Np: privately printed, 1963.
  • Thurley, Simon. The Royal Palaces of Tudor England. Yale: Yale UP, 1993.
  • Turner, Thomas Hudson, and John Henry Parker. Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England, from Richard II. to Henry VIII. 3 vols (vol 3 in 2 pts). Oxford: John Henry and James Parker, 1851–9.