Preston village originated in the
Saxon era—probably during the 9th or 10th century—as evidenced by its name (derived from
Preste-tun, meaning "priest's
farmstead"). The old spelling was still in use in the 11th century; by the 16th century, the term "Bishops Preston" or "Preston Episcopi" was in common use to avoid confusion with other Prestons elsewhere. Although the manor belonged to the Bishopric of Chichester, it would have been administered on their behalf by a steward or bailiff. By 1510 the bishops had given up on farming and began renting out their lands. The first tenant at Preston was Edward Elrington and his wife Beatrix Shirley. Edward died in 1515 (his tomb is in St Peter's Church) and his family, including his son Richard, stayed at Preston to farm sheep. The present manor house has its origins in a simple mid-13th century stone-built building with two rooms of unequal size. It faced north and measured . The stone walls were thick. The main hall was on the right-hand (western) side; it measured and was raised slightly above the steeply sloping ground to provide space for a cellar underneath. The second room, on the left-hand (eastern) side, measured . An extension may have been built during the time the manor was in the Shirley family: the lower part of the staircase (most of which dates from 1738) terminates at a first-floor landing and may date from about 1685. East of the staircase, there is a late 17th-century marble chimney-breast. Thomas Western had estates in Essex and came from a mercantile family. When he died in 1733 he was succeeded by his son, also called Thomas. Under this Thomas Western's oversight, Preston Manor was rebuilt around the core of the 13th-century building and was given a new interior. He may have designed the additions and alterations himself: a
foundation stone in the basement is carved with the date 1738 and the name "Thos. Western". The lopsided appearance (unusual for this era and the chosen architectural style) was perpetuated when Western added unequally sized western and eastern wings, in the style of pavilions, When Thomas died, the succession then passed jointly to two of his sons, Charles Western and Reverend Thomas Walsingham Western. Thomas exchanged his estates for lands in Essex, while in 1766 Charles married Frances, daughter of a colonial agent in the American colonies. Their married life was short as during a phaeton ride, the horse stumbled and her husband was killed. Their eldest son, also named Charles, was saved when Frances threw him from the phaeton into the safety of a bush. Soon after her husband's death, Frances took their children to Essex and never returned to Preston Manor. In 1794, Preston Manor which included about 1,000 acres of land was sold to a tenant
William Stanford for £17,600 ending the long association of Preston with the Western family. William Stanford came from an established farming family near
Horsham in
West Sussex. When he bought Preston Manor it included the house, farm and surrounding lands in Brighton and Hove. He was already a wealthy man. Around this time, the interior was redecorated in the
Adam style, and a columned screen was added in the entrance hall. The rapid expansion of Brighton in the early nineteenth century made for high income from rents and William Stanford the elder made a steady income from the collection of fees for surrendering his feudal rights over building land on the Adelaide and Brunswick estates. When the railway lines crossed the Stanford estate he received £30,000 compensation for the loss of his land and the spoiling of the westerly view from Preston Manor. William Stanford the younger's complicated will prevented the selling of freehold building land but a subsequent Act of Parliament, the 1871 Stanford Estate Act, allowed Ellen to grant building agreements with the option to purchase the freehold within seven years at a price equivalent to the ground rent for twenty-five years, clearing the way for the transformation of the Stanford estate from agricultural lands to building sites. To offset the sale of land in Brighton, the Stanford estate trustees acquired freeholds in Wiltshire, Sussex, Middlesex and Croydon and leaseholds in London. In 1891 Vere and Ellen persuaded the trustees of the Stanford Estate to purchase his family's estates at Pythouse and Norton Bavant in Wiltshire. The profit made from this transaction enabled Vere and Ellen to purchase a yacht and a property on the island of Madeira called Quinta Vigia, where they began spending the winter months for the sake of Vere's health. He died there in 1894. The widowed Ellen Benett-Stanford divided her time between London, Wiltshire, Brighton and Madeira. In 1896 in Madeira she met Charles Thomas, a bachelor who had been fortune seeking in the mines of South Africa and Rhodesia, and they married the following year. Charles took the Stanford name and arms, and the couple went to live at Pythouse. They travelled extensively and took summer holidays to Charles's house in Norway, a base for his fishing trips, and winter visits to a new holiday home in Madeira which they purchased in 1902 and renamed Quinta Stanford. Charles pursued his interests in history and archaeology and published several books. Meanwhile, Ellen's son John was in Africa hunting big game, serving with the Tirah field force and working as a freelance war correspondent. He was one of the earliest newsreel photographers and was wounded while filming during the Boer War. He had married Evelyn Hume in 1893, and they had two children: Vere (born 1894) and Patience (born 1899, d.1904). Ellen's mother, Eleanor, died in 1903 and by 1905 Ellen and Charles had decided to make Preston Manor their main residence. Charles Stanley Peach, a friend of the Stanfords, was commissioned in 1905 to make substantial alterations to the house and grounds. He built a
verandah to the right of the entrance, built an extension containing a new dining room and rooms for visitors and servants to the west, Alterations were made to the basement servants' rooms and new attic rooms were added. The entrance hall was also widened. About five years later, a verandah was added to the left of the entrance to match the original on the right. The frontage to Preston Road and Preston Drove was purchased by the corporation for the sum of £5,000 (although the sale was not completed until after Charles and Ellen died). Also in 1925 Charles and Ellen were given the honorary freedom of Brighton and in 1929 Charles was made a baronet in recognition of his years of public service. Sir Charles and Lady Ellen Thomas-Stanford continued to live at Preston Manor until their deaths in 1932. Charles died in March having willed to the Corporation 'all my books, documents, ancient deeds and papers relating exclusively or primarily to the County of Sussex'. (The rest of his library went to the National Library of Wales). Ellen died in November, bequeathing to the corporation the furniture and contents of the house. The transfer to the corporation (a forerunner of the present Brighton & Hove City Council) was completed in January 1933, after which the building was opened to the public as a museum of
Edwardian life, showing how a wealthy rural family would have lived and entertained at that time. As stipulated by Ellen Thomas-Stanford, Henry Roberts became Curator of Preston Manor and he and his family took up residence in the west wing. In 1936 the Preston Road frontage was set back and the main road widened. At this time the lodge, stables and gardener's cottage were demolished and the grounds to the north and west were laid out with grass and shrubs. In 1939 the Macquoid Bequest was installed in what had been Sir Charles's library and is now known as the Macquoid Room. During the Second World War Preston Manor became an Air Raid Precaution report centre, control centre and a base for a mobile First Aid post. In November 1945 HRH Princess Elizabeth came to tea at Preston Manor at the invitation of the Mayor of Brighton. It was her first public occasion. On 20 July 1947 a funeral tea was held in the drawing room for Christiana (Lily) Macdonald, with the Manor closed to the public that afternoon in respect. In 1951 Henry Roberts died and his daughter Margery became honorary curator of Preston Manor, a position she held until 1970. The Victorian servants' quarters in the semi-basement were restored and opened to the public in 1988. The walled garden was restored in the 1990s with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The way Preston Manor is presented to the public today reflects the way of life of a rich gentry family and their servants in the period before and after the First World War. ==Architecture==