posted 03-20-2002 04:06 AM
The manor of Eridge once formed part of the barony of Rotherfield, and early records suggest that a substantial house had stood on the site since Saxon times. The house was rebuilt in the Middle Ages and, though it is not known to what extent it was fortified, it was considered important enough to warrant a visit by Elizabeth I in 1573. The original castle remained in use to the time of Charles I, and it seems likely that it played some part in the Civil War of that monarch’s reign, suffering the usual punishment of being slighted.In 1787 the manor and lands of Eridge were acquired by Henry, second Earl of Abergavenny, of Kidbrook near East Grinstead. Employing the services of an amateur architect named Taylor, the Earl proceeded to erect for himself a magnificent mansion in the "Gothic manner". Parts of the original building were incorporated into the new house, which embodied into its design every conceivable form of Gothic architectural detail. It was, in short, an extravaganza of embattled and machicolated towers and pinnacles, as is revealed through old prints and engravings. In its day it was much criticised for its lack of proportion and feeling for genuine medieval architecture. Murray, in 1877, referred to it as in "the worst possible taste".
It was destroyed in 1938-9, which is most regrettable, and replaced by a humbler residence, itself subsequently reduced in size in more recent times.
From "Castles in Sussex" by John Guy.
have corrected spelling mistakes
[This message has been edited by AJR (edited 03-21-2002).]
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Castle Quest
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