Mansion House is a prominent and historically significant Grade II* listed Georgian village property in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England. The substantial family home is situated in the heart of Hurstpierpoint with the High Street at the front and South Downs to the rear. The brick-faced, timber-framed building has surviving medieval sections dating back to the mid- to late 16th century.

Maggie Henderson, an historic buildings archaeologist, was commissioned to carry out a historic building survey of the grade II* Listed Mansion House, High Street, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex. The report was commissioned to assess the origin and development of the property over time based on the surviving fabric of the building. As part of the project, a programme of documentary research was also carried out including an assessment of available historic maps.

Scope and methodology

The principal elements of the survey involved the creation of a record and description of the historic building together with an analysis and interpretation of the building's origin and historic development.

The building was visited by Maggie Henderson in order to carry out the on-site recording work. Subsequent visits were made by the author accompanied by Jane Briscoe in the first instance and David and Barbara Martin of the Rape of Hastings Architectural Survey.

The survey, a visual, non-intrusive examination of the fabric comprised the compilation of a detailed description of the building supplemented by an internal and external digital photographic record including details of all surviving historic fabric, features, fixtures and fittings.

A set of measured outline survey drawings of the house, including plans, sections cross-sections were created.

As always, the findings are based on the extent of visible fabric at the date of inspection.

Location, designations and planning considerations

Location

The Mansion House is situated on the south side of the High Street, towards the western end of the town. The house fronts onto the street, the east – west axis sitting parallel to the road with the principal, north elevation directly on the pavement. The property has large gardens to the rear bounded to the south by a Grade II Listed boundary wall of flint with brick trim. Access is directly from the pavement on the north side of the house.

Designations and planning considerations

The Mansion House is Grade II* Listed (List entry No. 1354864). The building was first listed on 28 October 1957 together with the adjacent cottage. The house was described as an early 17th-century front to a 17th-century or earlier timber-framed building: the north and west fronts are early 18th century. The wall to the northwest and that to the south of the property are listed in their own right, as is the tower house.

Any structure attached to a listed building or within its curtilage is subject to listed building control, by virtue of S. 1(5) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (formerly S. 54(9)).

Any object or structure within the curtilage of a principal building which, although not fixed to the principal building, forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948 and which is treated as part of the principal building by virtue of section 1(5)(b) of the Act.

Significance

The Mansion House is significant for the following reasons:

Date of construction, survival of historic fabric and features

The building is of composite construction with the earliest surviving fabric dating to the mid to late 16th century.

The historical value of the building lies in the mid to late 16th century origin, the surviving fabric of which gives clues to the form and decoration of the building from the outset. The house straddles the traditional and the fashionable: the house in its original form comprised a main range with the entrance leading into the hall in the medieval sense albeit a single-storey one. To the rear on the east side the house was served by an attached kitchen wing with a secondary solid staircase that remains in situ. To the west a further face wing may have been included from the outset to provide a parlour wing, although later alterations have obscured or removed clear evidence. The floor-plan then was in the traditional manner with the separate parts of the building serving specific functions: public, private and service, each accessed separately.

Another example of this duality is the use of combed daub at garret level in the main range of the house, at a date when the use of such a finish at this level of society was beginning to decline, contrasting with the inclusion of jointed-in collars intended to carry under-plastered ceilings within the garrets. The inclusion of under-plastered ceilings at this date was usually reserved for principal rooms and public spaces. At the Mansion House it appears that this newly fashionable and expensive feature was fitted throughout, including kitchen and garret.

Historic development

The 17th century modifications upgraded the building to include link corridors and a principal staircase situated within a new southern extension. By creating links between the pre-existing areas the building was entering the modern era, moving away from the traditional medieval roots. In the Georgian era, the house underwent significant alterations to again bring it in-line with current trends: the building was given a new front and west facade; indeed, the west side was all but rebuilt to create a high-end cross wing with good storey heights, well-appointed heated rooms and well-lit garret accommodation.

Subsequent alterations were fairly minimal resulting in an aesthetically pleasing building that can be ‘read’ to a high degree, indicating in its standing fabric its origin and development through some 450 years of occupation. The high-end features of the house, its size and location in relation to grounds and in the first instance, to ancillary buildings, indicate that the person responsible for the construction was one of wealth and status in the community.

Owners and occupants

By the second quarter of the 17th century it is known that the occupants, the Beard family were gentlemen, with careers in law. The Beard family remained at the house for at least 150 years, superseded by the Weeks, a wealthy medical family with substantial property holdings in Sussex in the 19th century. The Weekes remained at the house, and the house accommodated the medical profession until 1947, with one brief interlude between 1850 and 1853 when the Mansion House served as the school building for the newly created Hurst College prior to its relocation to the present purpose-built site.

Historic background and maps

Historic background

The Mansion House in Hurstpierpoint dates to the last half of 16th century, clearly evidenced by the surviving standing historic fabric of the building which will be described in detail below. The historic documents examined as part of the project does not so far extend as far back as the building itself. The earliest observed reference concerning the occupant of the house dates to 1636 and notes that William Jordan was in residence.West Sussex Records Office FN 17 PAR/400/7/1 The 1636 document describing the extents of the Glebe Terrier notes that:

‘...abutting to the north ground of the same name of William Jordans, the south to the mansion house of the said William Jordan.’

Little information is available regarding William Jordan; however, it is clear that he had left the Mansion House by at least 1642 when the house is in the hands of the Beard family where it remained until the end of the 18th century. The Beard family were therefore responsible for much of the development of the building that has resulted in the present form, altering, adding and upgrading the property for over a 150 years.

The first Beard to occupy the property was Ralph Beard Esquire mentioned as of the Mansion House in a covenant of 1646.West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 6771 Ralph married Cassandra Wilson of Sheffield House, Fletching, in 1630, the only (surviving) daughter of Francis Wilson Esquire. Ralph, born in c. 1594 was the son of John Beard of Cowfold, Gent and Alice Alfrey. Ralph is listed as Ralph Beard Esquire, barrister at law, of the Inner Temple, London and Hurstpierpoint, Sussex and his descendants are described as living at Hurstpierpoint. Ralph Beard served as lawyer to Lord Goring of the nearby Danny Estate also in Hurstpierpoint.

After the death of Ralph Beard in 1655, the Mansion House passed to his descendants. Ralph and Cassandra had three sons: Thomas, John and Francis. It appears from subsequent records and surviving indications within the house that Thomas took up residence with documents to that effect dating from at least 1664.West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 23 Thomas was named in 1682 as one of the members of a jury formed to inquire for the Lord King and the Body of the County (Assize records).West Sussex Records Office ADD MS 37104 By 1690 mention is also made of his son Thomas junior at Hurstpierpoint.West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 24 The elder Thomas married for a second time in 1691 to a local woman, Elizabeth Minshull, spinster of Hurstpierpoint.West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 25 Both Thomas Beards were resident at Hurstpierpoint by 1698 West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 4231, 4232 and the will of Thomas junior dated the following year (1699) names his wife Katherine Beard, née Stone (married in 1693) and their son, Ralph.West Sussex Records Office Wiston MSS 33 Ralph Beard junior remains at the Mansion House and his initials are to be found in various places within the building, indicating that he too was responsible for the development of the property. Ralph is named as a 'Barrister at Law', indicating that he not only inherited his great-grandfather's name, but also followed the tradition of the family legal profession. Ralph Beard was responsible for commissioning the estate map of 1736 West Sussex Records Office MSS 28783 that indicates the amount of property held by him in Hurstpierpoint. Ralph Beard had five daughters with his wife Mary, whom he left a widow in 1754.

The daughters were named Mary (junior), Elizabeth, Martha, Sarah and Ann in a document dated to 1712.West Sussex Records Office MSS 4144 By 1719 Mary junior had married a Mr. George Parkes while her four sisters remained at Hurstpierpoint, described as spinsters in a conveyance dated 1767.West Sussex Records Office MSS 4145

A book published in 2001 by the Hurstpierpoint Study Group list one William Sayers as occupier of the Mansion House in 1773, followed by John Sayers in 1787, no sources are given.Nelson, I (editor) Hurstpierpoint Good and Charitable (Ditchling Press) 2001 The long residency of the Beard family comes to a close at the end of the 18th century making way for the next:

Weekes family

Letter No. 13 of the Weekes family dated 28 October 1801 gives a description of alterations taking place at the Mansion House.Ford, John M T. A Medical Student at St Thomas's Hospital, 1801-1802, The Weekes Family Letters. Medical History Supplement No 7, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, 1987. The reference appears to relate to repairs commissioned by Richard Weekes a doctor and apothecary then resident at Matts in Hurstpierpoint presumably while the work progressed. The relevant passage from the letter sheds light on the alterations noting that:

‘Mrs Beards house is repairing but goes on very slow, have put in new sashes, stopt up 2 in front and made a large window west end for a drawing room above stairs.