Brightling Park

Brightling Park (previously known as Rose Hill) is a country estate which lies in the parishes of Brightling and Dallington in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is now the home of Grissell Racing, who have operated a racehorse training facility there for more than 30 years.[1]

The 18th-century house is brick-built in two storeys with a nine window north front and stands in some 200ha (490 acres) of parkland. Additional wings added in 1810 were demolished in 1955. 18th-century grade II listed stables and a coach-house to the south-east of the house comprise a single long building. The house is approached by an avenue bounded by ha-has, to the side of which stands a grade II listed alcove or summerhouse. The parkland is Grade II listed [2] whereas Brightling Park House itself is a Grade II* listed building.[3]

Associated with the estate are a number of follies and an observatory, all designed by architect Sir Robert Smirke for John "Mad Jack" Fuller in the early 1800s.

The Obelisk aka Brightling Needle
The Observatory
The Alcove or Summerhouse stands to the west of the house within the park and is a semicircular alcove built of red brick with a four-centred archway entrance flanked by pairs of interlocking columns. Built in 1803, it is a Grade II listed building.[4]
The Temple, standing within the park 400m to the south-west of the house, is a small circular building consisting of a colonnade surmounted by a dome. It is a Grade II* listed building.[5]
The Obelisk, also known as Brightling Needle, stands some 500m outside the park's perimeter wall on top of Brightling Down and is a Grade II* listed building.[6]
The Observatory was built in 1818 on a high spot outside the park some 150m to the west. It is a T-shaped one storey building built of ashlar with slits for the telescopes. Now a private house, it is also a Grade II* listed building.[7]
  1. ^ "Follies of Mad Jack Fuller". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Brightling Park (1001261)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Brightling Park (1352916)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  4. ^ Historic England. "THE SUMMERHOUSE OR ALCOVE AT BRIGHTLING PARK TO THE WEST OF THE HOUSE (1044062)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. ^ Historic England. "THE TEMPLE AT BRIGHTLING PARK TO THE SOUTH WEST OF THE HOUSE (1352934)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. ^ Historic England. "BRIGHTLING NEEDLE (1044089)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. ^ Historic England. "THE OBSERVATORY (1277117)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2014.