The Slaugham Archive
Original Ashfold House, HandcrossThe watercolour sketch by S. H. Grimm is of the original Ashfold house, described as a Jacobean mansion refaced in the 18th century, adding that it shows “Mr Granger’s House, near Slaugham Green, 1787”.
In 1875, Eric Carrington Smith, a grandson of George II, commissioned the architect, George Devey (1820-1886), to build large additions to the mansion and add a lodge and cottages to the estate.
These works were executed between 1875 and 1884 by the builder John Adcock of Dover and Wheatland.
RIBA retains 21 plans and elevations of Devey’s commission at Ashfold.
The Large Version shows a close up.
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Picture added on 21 June 2018 at 08:44
This picture is in the following groups
Ashfold (Ashfold School - see Schools)
Ashfold (Ashfold School - see Schools)
Many thanks, Malcolm. I think I obtained the information from the Historic England website (https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354869) and accepted it as a fact although I did wonder at the time about the dramatic change in the appearance of Ashfold House as a result of it being “refaced” in C18 and “large additions to the mansion” in C19. I note that RIBA hold many plans and elevations of the C19 work, which may be relevant.
In Rev. W. A, Dengate’s book “Slaugham” published in 1929 he writes “A picture of this house (Ashfold) is among the Burrell MSS in the British Museum, where it is described as Mr Granger’s House, near Slaugham Green, 1787”.
The British Library hold the William Burrell collection of 1300 watercolour paintings of Sussex gathered from commissions given to a handful of painters including Samuel Hieronymus Grimm. (https://www.bl.uk/picturing-places/articles/watercolours-in-william-burrells-collections) I wonder what evidence they have that the painting was really “Mr Granger’s House, near Slaugham Green”.
There are some differences between the 1787 painting and the one of Bridge house 1825, being the removal of two dormer windows, the addition of a chimney, the reduction in size of a chimney, and a different porch. It may be artistic licence, or perhaps there were two houses built from the same plans but with minor adjustments!
Bridge House has a dual driveway for horse-drawn carriages to prevent awkward turning round in front of the house, with two exits on to the public road or a roundabout system. Beware of low branches though! Was the location of BH suitable for such an arrangement?
It may be of interest for you to see an early map of the Ashfold estate at picture #619, but the year is unknown. The Furnace Pond with the adjacent common land is shown and today this is known as Slaugham Common. Slaugham Green is the common land in the heart of the village about a half mile to the east.
I have seen on the internet a copy of a will for a Thomas Cecil Grainger (not Granger) who lived at either Bridge Court or Bridge House. The scribe did not learn how to write proper at Handcross School! However the will was dated 1834 and you think Bridge House was demolished in 1812.
Incidentally, I have looked in the church records (baptisms, marriages, and burials) for St Mary’s, Slaugham from about 1605 to 1895 and I could find no one called Granger, but there was a George Grainger who was a witness at a wedding in 1882.
Click on Open Document to view the painting of Bridge House dated 1825 and a copy of the Grainger will.
I have run out of ideas and I would be extremely grateful to you and your colleagues at CC if you can make a positive identification of the Grimm watercolour. I wish you all good fortune.
In Rev. W. A, Dengate’s book “Slaugham” published in 1929 he writes “A picture of this house (Ashfold) is among the Burrell MSS in the British Museum, where it is described as Mr Granger’s House, near Slaugham Green, 1787”.
The British Library hold the William Burrell collection of 1300 watercolour paintings of Sussex gathered from commissions given to a handful of painters including Samuel Hieronymus Grimm. (https://www.bl.uk/picturing-places/articles/watercolours-in-william-burrells-collections) I wonder what evidence they have that the painting was really “Mr Granger’s House, near Slaugham Green”.
There are some differences between the 1787 painting and the one of Bridge house 1825, being the removal of two dormer windows, the addition of a chimney, the reduction in size of a chimney, and a different porch. It may be artistic licence, or perhaps there were two houses built from the same plans but with minor adjustments!
Bridge House has a dual driveway for horse-drawn carriages to prevent awkward turning round in front of the house, with two exits on to the public road or a roundabout system. Beware of low branches though! Was the location of BH suitable for such an arrangement?
It may be of interest for you to see an early map of the Ashfold estate at picture #619, but the year is unknown. The Furnace Pond with the adjacent common land is shown and today this is known as Slaugham Common. Slaugham Green is the common land in the heart of the village about a half mile to the east.
I have seen on the internet a copy of a will for a Thomas Cecil Grainger (not Granger) who lived at either Bridge Court or Bridge House. The scribe did not learn how to write proper at Handcross School! However the will was dated 1834 and you think Bridge House was demolished in 1812.
Incidentally, I have looked in the church records (baptisms, marriages, and burials) for St Mary’s, Slaugham from about 1605 to 1895 and I could find no one called Granger, but there was a George Grainger who was a witness at a wedding in 1882.
Click on Open Document to view the painting of Bridge House dated 1825 and a copy of the Grainger will.
I have run out of ideas and I would be extremely grateful to you and your colleagues at CC if you can make a positive identification of the Grimm watercolour. I wish you all good fortune.
Added by Barry Ray on 28 August 2021
To alleviate your confusion, may I contribute the fact that Ashfold, the former prep. school which was demolished in 1956, is where George Devey's house was built and it was built around the house shown in the Grimm watercolour above.
This explains the extremely thick walls of the final version of Ashfold house.
This explains the extremely thick walls of the final version of Ashfold house.
Added by John Ling on 01 September 2021
Further to John's comment above, may I recommend reading his very comprehensive history of Ashfold house and those persons associated with it. It can be found at picture #61 by selecting Open Document.
The celebrated Victorian architect, George Devey, who was associated with the creation of Ashfold house, died in 1886 in Hastings and there is a blue plaque on the wall of 12 Pelham Crescent where he lived. The plaque is in the middle of this view from Google Street View: copy and paste: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8551655,0.5844713,3a,60y,316.57h,93.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sG6ern3kGUaFqcEm6pS1LxQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
The celebrated Victorian architect, George Devey, who was associated with the creation of Ashfold house, died in 1886 in Hastings and there is a blue plaque on the wall of 12 Pelham Crescent where he lived. The plaque is in the middle of this view from Google Street View: copy and paste: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8551655,0.5844713,3a,60y,316.57h,93.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sG6ern3kGUaFqcEm6pS1LxQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Added by Barry Ray on 03 September 2021
I believe the Grangers also lived at Bridge House at some point - so I think there is some confusion on that too. Bridge House was a mile and a half north of Slough Green, and half a mile south of Staplefield on east side. We are doing a couple of articles in Cuckfield Connections shortly on Douglas and Bridge House. If you have any more info that would be very helpful just now. Keep up the first rate research, regards Malcolm, joint editor of CC.