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Discover country houses in Sussex

The county Pevsner called “of schools, colleges, convent schools, and the houses of various orders”.

Today, few families who inherited or bought their estates before 1840 survive.

How many country houses are there in Sussex?

There are at least 119 recognised historic halls and manor houses in East and West Sussex combined.

A whopping 28 of these were listed by Simon Jenkins as among the 1,000 best in England due to their appearance, character or history.

119 represents every site publicised by the National Trust, the Historic Houses Association, and the DiCamillo database.

Country houses we've written about in Sussex

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Burton Park

Sussex's "best" historic houses

28 country houses were featured in “England’s thousand best houses”, by Simon Jenkins

House	Star rating	Open via
Parham House	5*	Historic Houses
Arundel Castle	4*	Historic Houses
Batemans	4*	National Trust
Charleston Manor	4*	Open privately
Firle Place	4*	Historic Houses
Goodwood House	4*	Historic Houses
Petworth House	4*	National Trust
Uppark	4*	National Trust
Battle Abbey	3*	English Heritage
Bodiam Castle	3*	National Trust
Glynde Place	3*	Historic Houses
Great Dixter House	3*	Historic Houses
Nymans House	3*	National Trust
Standen House	3*	National Trust
Amberley Castle	2*	As hotel
Danny House	2*	Private retirement property
Gravetye Manor	2*	As hotel
Hammerwood Park	2*	Open privately, seasonally
Herstmonceux Castle	2*	Open privately, seasonally
Michelham Priory	2*	Historic Houses
Preston Manor	2*	As museum, seasonally
Saint Hill Manor	2*	Open privately, seasonally
Stansted Park	2*	Open privately, seasonally
West Dean Park	2*	N/A (now a college)
Cowdray House	1*	As exclusive private stay only
Lewes Castle	1*	Open via local charity
Newtimber Place	1*	Privately, seasonally, by appointment only.
Wakehurst Place	1*	National Trust, but temporarily closed for renovation.

Sussex historic houses open to the public

Of the county’s 119 recognised historic country houses, around 35 can be accessed by the public through major membership organisations – that’s almost a third. The National Trust own 11, and the Historic Houses association market a further 12. Another 12 have access through private or charitable organisations.

See the table below or skip through for the full list.

Sussex historic and country houses with public access:

House	Open via
Amberley Castle	As hotel
Arundel Castle	Historic Houses
Batemans	National Trust
Battle Abbey	English Heritage
Bodiam Castle	National Trust
Borde Hill	Historic Houses
Charleston Manor	Open privately
Cowdray House	As exclusive private stay only
Farleys House	Historic Houses
Firle Place	Historic Houses
Folkington Manor	Historic Houses
Glynde Place	Historic Houses
Goodwood House	Historic Houses
Gravetye Manor	As hotel
Great Dixter House	Historic Houses
Herstmonceux Castle	Open privately, seasonally
Lamb House	National Trust
Lewes Castle	Open via local charity
Michelham Priory	Historic Houses
Newtimber Place	Privately, seasonally, by appointment
Nymans House	National Trust
Parham House	Historic Houses
Pashley Manor	Historic Houses
Petworth House	National Trust
Preston Manor	As museum, seasonally
Saint Hill Manor	Open privately, seasonally
Sheffield Park	National Trust
St Mary's House	Historic Houses
Standen House	National Trust
Stansted Park	Open privately, seasonally
Uppark	National Trust
Wakehurst Place	National Trust, but temporarily closed for renovation

Map of East and West Sussex country houses

We’ve mapped all the area’s country houses in a publicly available resource. That’s every historic mansion from the National Trust, the Historic Houses Association and the DiCamillo database.

See any missing? We’re combing Historic England’s records over time to find more secluded estates and country houses. If you have more local knowledge to share, tweet us at @nearly_noble and we’ll share to our followers.

Tap to open

Full list of Sussex country houses

Toggle for a list of all the houses mapped above. Have we missed any?

Over time, we’re scouring Historic England records to identify the most secretive country houses from the smallest hidden villages. If you have local knowledge to contribute – tweet us at @nearly_noble and we’ll share to our followers.

Albourne Place
Aldworth House
Alfriston Clergy House
Amberley Castle
Anne of Cleves House
Arundel Castle
Arundel Park
Ashcombe House
Ashdown House, East Sussex
Ashdown Park

Bailiffscourt
Barnham Court
Batemans
Battle Abbey
Beechwood House
Bignor Park
Birch Grove House
Blackdown House
Bodiam Castle
Bolebroke Castle
Borde Hill
Brantridge Park
Brede Place
Brickwall House
Brightling Park
Buchan Hill
Buckhurst Park
Burton Park
Buxted Park

Castle Goring
Charleston Manor
Charlwood Park
Chestham Park
Chesworth House
Clayton Priory
Compton Place
Cowdray House
Crabbet Park
Cuckfield Park

Danny House
Ditton Place

Farleys House
Field Place
Findon Place
Firle Place
Fittleworth House
Folkington Manor
Framfield Place
Frith Manor

Glen Andred
Glynde Place
Glyndebourne House
Goodwood House
Gravetye Manor
Great Dixter House
Great Ote Hall
Great Wigsell

Halnaker House
Hamilton Palace
Hammerwood Park
Heathfield Park
Herstmonceux Castle
Highwell House
Holmbush
Horselunges Manor
Horsted Place

Iridge Place

Kidbrooke Park
Knepp Castle

Lamb House
Lavington Park
Leasam House
Legh Manor
Leonardslee
Lewes Castle
Lewes House
Little Thakeham House
Lodsworth House

Michelham Priory
Monk’s House

New Place Manor
Newick Park
Newtimber Place
Nymans House

Pakyns Manor
Parham House
Pashley Manor
Petworth House
Preston Manor

Rampyndene
Rowfant House
Royal Pavilion

Saint Hill Manor
Sedgwick Park House
Sheffield Park
Shermanbury Place
Shernfold Park
Shillinglee
Slindon House
Socknersh Manor
St Mary’s House
Standen House
Stanmer House
Stansted Park
Stopham House
Swanborough Manor

Uppark

Wakehurst Place
Walberton House
Warnham Court
West Dean Park
Wickenden Manor
Windmill Hill Place
Wiston House
Woolbeding House
Wootton Manor
Worth Abbey
Wych Cross Place
Wykehurst Park