The medieval estate The earliest known reference to the West Dean Estate is found in the
Domesday Book in 1086, where it was included in the manor of
Singleton as, a forest and hunting park. The
Earls of Arundel and the
Dukes of Norfolk held these lands for almost 500 years until 1572, when
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk was accused of treason. He was stripped of his possessions by
Elizabeth I and then beheaded. She later restored the properties and title to the Duke's eldest son
Philip. It was Philip who built the first manor house at
West Dean in 1603, then known as Earl's Court, later to be renamed Canon House due to its connections to
Chichester Cathedral.
The Jacobean manor In 1621 Philip sold the manor and it passed into various ownerships, including the Sussex families of John Aylwin of Lewes and Richard Lewkenor of Stoughton. It was John Lewkenor in 1622 who built the Jacobean manor house, on the site that was previously occupied by the medieval building. The building was built in an E-shape, common in the late 16th century.
The Peachey family In 1738 the West Dean Estate passed into the hands of the Peachey family from
Petworth, just over the South Downs.
James Peachey, 1st Baron Selsey, commissioned the leading architect of the time,
James Wyatt, to rebuild the manor house, creating the core flint mansion seen at West Dean today. Wyatt is also responsible for the orangery on the West Dean estate. James went on to gain a vast acreage of land, leaving it to his son,
John Peachey, 2nd Baron Selsey on his death. John was responsible for laying out the parkland and arboretum in West Dean. All of John's children were without heirs, and in 1871 the last Peachey died. Recently there has been a link made with the Peachey family of Portsmouth.
The James family In 1891 West Dean became the home of newly married
William (Willie) Dodge James and Evelyn Forbes the daughter of Sir Charles Forbes, a Scottish aristocrat. William James had inherited great wealth from his father, American-born Liverpool-based merchant
Daniel James. He bought West Dean from Frederick Bowers, a merchant who had owned the property since the death of its previous owner, Caroline Mary (Peachey) Vernon Harcourt (1785–1871). She had inherited the estate when her brother,
Henry John Peachey, 3rd Baron Selsey died in 1838. Caroline was the wife of Leveson Venables Vernon Harcourt, son of
Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt,
Archbishop of York. In her will she had bequeathed West Dean to a distant relative,
Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, who immediately sold it to Frederick Bowers. Clanricarde also disposed of several other properties left to him by Caroline plus the extensive library housed at West Dean, the sale of which took nine days at
Sotheby's and included a copy of
John Gower's rare
Confessio Amantis that sold for £670. When James moved to the West Dean Estate in 1891, he set about altering and greatly extending the house and commissioned
Ernest George and
Harold Peto to do so. George helped embellish the state rooms and Peto designed a -long
pergola, still a highlight of the gardens today. West Dean House became one of the largest flint structures in the country. The interior of the house reflects William and his brothers
Frank and
Arthur's passion for big game hunting, with souvenirs of their visits to Africa, Arabia, and Afghanistan displayed throughout the house. House parties at West Dean were attended by the Prince of Wales - who became King
Edward VII when his mother
Queen Victoria died. He was William James's son
Edward James's godfather and a regular participant of pheasant and partridge shoots on the West Dean estate. The Prince of Wales had a group of rich and entertaining friends that became known as the
Marlborough House set and included people like Evelyn and her sister-in-law Mary
Venetia James (née Cavendish-Bentinck). William and Evelyn had five children, four girls, Millicent, Alexandra, Silvia, and Audrey. In 1907 after 18 years of marriage, their son and heir
Edward James was born. William became
Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex in 1892. and High
Sheriff of Sussex in 1897 He was also appointed Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order by Edward VII in 1908.
Edward James Edward James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William Dodge James. His mother was Evelyn Forbes, a Scots socialite, who was reputedly fathered by the
Prince of Wales (later
Edward VII). Edward James had four older sisters: Audrey, Millicent, Xandra, and Silvia. He was educated briefly at
Eton, and then at
Le Rosey in Switzerland, followed by
Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a contemporary of
Evelyn Waugh and
Harold Acton. In 1912 he inherited the West Dean House, on the death of his father. He was only aged four at the death of his father in March of that year; however Edward did not take control of the estate until he was 25. In 1939 Edward James wrote to
Aldous Huxley expressing his fear that after the war, certain arts, and particularly the techniques of the craftsmen would be lost. As a solution James suggested that his estate be set up as an educational community where the techniques of craftsmanship could be preserved and taught, whilst restoring old work and creating new art works.
Wispers School In 1956
Wispers School, an independent boarding school for girls aged between 11 and 18, moved to West Dean House. In 1964 James gave the house to a charitable trust, The Edward James Foundation, but the school was able to remain at West Dean until 1968.
West Dean College The Edward James Foundation was established in 1964 as a charitable, educational trust which supports and teaches artists and craftsmen and in 1971 the foundation established
West Dean College which offers full-time and short courses. Since the house became a college, extensive alterations and additions have been made to the bedrooms and former service areas of the house, in order to make it suitable for students. Roofing over the former stable yard and the surrounding buildings has enabled arts and crafts workshops to be built. All the work took place over a period of 20 years, directed by architect John Warren, who tried to retain the historical features of the house. Major repair and improvement work was due to be carried out on the roof in 2019. A planning application was made to the
South Downs National Park in 2017. ==West Dean Gardens==