Thursday 16 July, The Priest House, West Hoathly in West Sussex (RH19 4PP)
This year’s Members’ Outing is on Thursday 16th July and will be to The Priest House at West Hoathly in West Sussex. We visited there in 1999, which is not a century ago but feels like it!
Photograph of The Priest House, from The Sussex Archaeological Society “Sussex Past” website
This is the nearest we get to visiting an actual location for one of Thirkell’s books – August Folly. Greek plays were performed there every year, except wartime, from 1910-1936. The Stoneland Players were the creation of a lady who came to live in the village in 1896. She had heard lectures given by Gilbert Murray at Oxford and decided to promote the plays as village productions in her barn, at Stonelands, with local people taking part. Angela and Lance visited in 1934 and stayed at Hook Farm which is a short drive away.
Antony Smith, the Custodian, remembers our previous visit and says they still have a copy of August Folly, an old Penguin edition which they have on display. I’ll be taking a newer edition so that they have one in reserve. Unfortunately, Stonelands and Hook Farm are privately owned so we are not able to see them.
The Priest House is a 15th century timber framed house, standing in a traditional cottage garden. It was built for the Priory of St Pancras in Lewes but later seized by Henry VIII following the dissolution of the monasteries. The house and gardens have been open to the public since 1908. It is now a museum of local life with country furniture, ironwork and local history with temporary exhibitions. The cottage garden features large herbaceous borders displaying over 170 herbs and perennials.
Antony is offering us a tour of the House and some parts of the village, with tea and home-made cakes on The Priest House lawn. The charge per person will be £10, payable on the day. Members attending will need to be booked in through us.
PLAN FOR THE DAY
The visit will start at 11am with refreshments on the lawn, followed by a tour of the house. After that we can all decide where we’d like to go for the rest of the day as, apart from the village itself, there are several interesting places nearby.
We will be sending out another email, with full details, two weeks before the date to those who have expressed an interest in coming.
West Hoathly can be reached by public transport, but it is not for the fainthearted! Trains from Victoria to East Grinstead run every half hour and take 1 hour. A taxi (rank outside the station) costs about £15; if several people arrive by the same train they might share. We could pass on details when we know who will be coming by train. There is a ‘bus. Metrobus route 84 takes 12 – 18 minutes to West Hoathly but only runs every 2 hours and does not connect with the trains from Victoria! The wait would, however, give you the opportunity to explore East Grinstead station which was the model for Winter Overcotes, with its High and Low level platforms. We are hoping to organise lifts from the station when we know how many people will be coming.
If you are a current Society member, and would like to reserve a place (or places), please send the following details to Hilary Temple (email address templehilary@gmail.com).
Name(s); ……………………………………………………………….
Email address: ………………………………………………………….
Mobile telephone number: ………………………………………….
Means of transport: …………………………………………………….
If you are coming by car, would you be able to offer a lift from East Grinstead station (8 minutes away)?……………………………………………………………………
A final confirmation email will be sent about 2 weeks before the event.
Leave a Reply