OLD PLACE, 



LINDFIELD, . . 



THE SEAT OF ... 



MR. CHARLES E. KEMPE 



GARDENS 

 OLD-&NEW 



THE village of Lindtidd, between Cuckfield and HorsteJ 

 Keynes, is one of the most interesting to the artist 

 and the antiquary in the whole county of Sussex, 

 which is a very great thing to say. Few of those who pass 



Cofi-iighl. 



THE SUNDIAL. 



through Hayward's Heath on the way to Brighton are aware 

 that a p'ace so charming lies near. It is a lovely wooded 

 country, from which many views are gained of the distant 

 South Downs, with picturesque and rustic scenes such as 

 we are familiar with .in the paintings 

 of Constable. From the earliest times 

 there has been an important resi- 

 dential district in this part of Sussex, 

 and on both sides of the South Downs 

 are numerous great mansions or the 

 remains of them, not seldom turned 

 into farmhouses. The wayfarer will 

 constantly come across quaint bits of 

 timber architecture hereabout, with a 

 rustic beauty possess ng a special 

 charm of its own, and Lindfield itself 

 still possesses many houses of timber 

 in its ancient street, of which several 

 are very deserving of notice. 



The ancient gentry have departed, 

 but several of their houses remain. 

 There is Pax Hill, an Elizabethan 

 house of stone, built in 1606, and 

 very picturesque. Kenwardes was 

 once the seat of the old Sussex family 

 of Chaloner, of whom Colonel 

 Chaloner was a supporter of the 

 Commonwealth and a Justice of the 

 Peace, who is recorded to have cele- 

 brated lay marriages in his house 

 under an ordinance of the Parliament ; 

 and Lunt and Ea^t Mascalls are other 

 notable houses in the vicinity of Lind- 

 field. Happily the architectural 

 treasures of the region have not been 

 overlooked, and a new sun of pros- 

 perity has shone upon some few 

 places that had fallen into decay, 

 leading to achievements in the domain 

 of country life which are very note- 

 worthy indeed. 



The Old Place, a mansion origin- 

 ally built about the year 1590, is a 

 notable illustration of the fact. Here 

 has the skill of modern hands recovered 

 the spirit of the eld in the regenera- 

 tion of the house, and thus created 

 a jewel well befitting that beautiful 

 land. Mr. Kempe, who loves his 

 garden well, was also his own archi- 

 tect. This is a house of a class found 

 in many parts of r-ngland besides this 

 district of Sussex, but few examples 

 of it are so satisfactory in their varied 

 features. Look at those wonderful 

 gables, in their picturesque grouping, 

 at the lofty chimneys, at the mullioned 

 windows with their storied panes. 

 Ask yourself, then, if anything can 

 be more English in character than the 



"Country Lift." 



