The High Street contains one of the longest continuous runs of 14th-century timber-framed buildings in England. Other notable buildings in the town include
Sackville College, the
sandstone almshouse, built in 1609. In 1853 the warden of Sackville College,
John Mason Neale, wrote the
Christmas carol "
Good King Wenceslas". The college has sweeping views towards
Ashdown Forest. The adjacent
St Swithun's Church stands on the highest ground in the town and was rebuilt in the eighteenth century (the tower dating from 1789) to a perpendicular design by
James Wyatt. The imposing structure dominates the surrounding countryside for many miles around. In the churchyard are commemorated the East Grinstead Martyrs, and in the south-east corner is the grave of John Mason Neale. The
Greenwich Meridian runs through the grounds of the historic 1769 East Court mansion, home of the Town Council, giving the visitor an opportunity to stand with a foot in both the east and west. The mansion stands in a parkland setting. In 1968, the East Grinstead Society was founded as an independent body, both to protect the historically important buildings of East Grinstead (and its environs) and to improve the amenities for future generations. east of the town, in
Hammerwood, is
Hammerwood Park, a country house built by
Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1792, and once owned by the
rock band
Led Zeppelin. On the outskirts of the town is
Standen, a
country house belonging to the National Trust, containing one of the best collections of
Arts and Crafts movement furnishings and fabrics. Kidbrooke Park (today Michael Hall School), a home of the Hambro family, was restored by the noted Sussex architect and antiquarian,
Walter Godfrey, as was Plawhatch Hall. East Grinstead House is the headquarters of the (UK and Ireland)
Caravan Club. During the
Second World War, the
Queen Victoria Hospital developed a specialist burns unit led by Sir
Archibald McIndoe. It became world-famous for pioneering treatment of RAF and allied aircrew who were badly burned or crushed, and required reconstructive plastic surgery. In 1941 patients of McIndoe who had undergone experimental reconstructive plastic surgery formed the
Guinea Pig Club, which then became a support network for the aircrew and their family members. The club remained active after the end of the war, and its annual reunion meetings at East Grinstead continued until 2007, when the club was wound down in view of the increasing frailty of its surviving members. As such, the townspeople became very supportive of the patients at the Queen Victoria Hospital. Even though many of the victims were horribly disfigured (often missing limbs, and in the worst cases faces, their faces made up of burn tissue), the townspeople would go out of their way to make the men feel normal. In the winter of 2010, Claque Theatre produced the East Grinstead Community Play, which focussed on the bombing of the town in 1943, the work of
Archibald McIndoe and his team at the hospital, and the Guinea Pig Club and its members. It was performed by local residents. On 9 June 2014 the
Princess Royal unveiled a monument to Sir Archibald McIndoe and the Guinea Pigs. It stands in front of
Sackville College at the east end of the High Street. It was funded by a public appeal and sculpted by
Martin Jennings, whose own father was a
Guinea Pig. It depicts a burned airman looking to the sky, with McIndoe placing reassuring hands on his shoulders. The stone ring around the statue is for visitors to sit and reflect and in doing so become part of the story representing "The town that did not stare". In 2006, the East Grinstead Town Museum was moved to new custom-built premises in the historic centre of the town, and successfully re-opened to the public as the
East Grinstead Museum. Chequer Mead Theatre includes a modern 336-seat] purpose-built auditorium, which stages professional and amateur plays/musicals and music (local
rock groups to
chamber music orchestras),
opera,
ballet,
folk music,
tribute bands, film, event cinema and talks. The venue also has a popular spacious cafe with outdoor seating. In addition to the nearby
Ashdown Forest, East Grinstead is served by the
Forest Way and
Worth Way linear Country Parks which follow the disused railway line from
Three Bridges all the way through to
Groombridge and which are part of the
Sustrans national cycle network. ==Places of worship==