Ashburnham Place was once one of the finest houses in South East England, the present building dating back to around the 1750s, following abandonment of the previous house in the 17th century. The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown in 1777. The house saw a number of additions in the 18th and 19th centuries, including refacing in brick.
For most of its history, it was in the hands of the Ashburnham family. However, the last of the lineage died in 1953, when it was passed to a distant cousin, the Revd John Bickersteth. However, a combination of war damage (from a fully laden WWII bomber which had crashed nearby) and dry rot meant that major repairs were needed, in addition to which there were substantial death duties to pay. To meet the latter the major art collection was sold off along with half the estate. Because of the repair costs, much of the house was demolished in 1959, including the upper storeys, leaving only two storeys of the central block and one storey of the side wings. The much reduced house was then given to a trust, the Ashburnham Christian Trust, which now operates it as a Christian conference centre.
The house is grade II listed – for listing particulars see
Link.
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