Folkington Manor

The Place, as it was formerly called, is a site of some antiquity, having been the seat of the Culpepers in James I's reign and later of the Dobell[3] family, from whom it was bought in about 1650 by Sir William Thomas, of West Dean with the adjoining manor of Wootton.

Rupert Gwynne was father of Elizabeth David, the pre-eminent British cookery writer of the mid 20th century, and brother of Violet Gordon Woodhouse, the influential and highly acclaimed musician.

To the south of the drive are 3 large railed paddocks with parkland trees including pine and chestnut, as well as a grass gallop that extends for approximately 1.5 miles.

To the south of the house are yew hedges, shrub borders and steps leading up to a further area of mature wooded garden with two greenhouses and a sunken dell.

On his death the house passed into the hands of his younger brother Roland Gwynne, Mayor of Eastbourne 1928–31, and the possible lover of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.

[8] The film, directed by Ian Dalrymple and Peter Proud, starred Kathleen Ryan (in the title role), Dirk Bogarde (as William Latch), Cyril Cusack, Ivor Barnard and Fay Compton.

[9] Violet Gordon Woodhouse was the sister of Rupert Gwynne and one of the century's most gifted musicians, her salon at Wooton Manor was a rural match for London's Bloomsbury gatherings.