Reddish House

The 50 acre farm was taken by the crown at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and it is surmised that this was because Sir Thomas Elyot had included it in an endowment to Salisbury Cathedral.

[3][5] During the Cray ownership Reddish had been inhabited and farmed by a series of lessees including a mercer John Coombs from 1702 to 1706, and George Northover for over 50 years and James Lawes.

In 1786 Jeremiah Cray's estates were shared by his two daughters, Sarah and Margaret, wives of Sir Alexander Grant, 7th Baronet and Percival Lewis respectively.

In 1935 Claude Williamson sold the house and its 2.5 acre gardens to Dr. Lucius Wood and his wife Clara who lived there from 1935 until 1947, running his General Practice and dentistry.

[3] The upper floor had been equipped for illegal cock-fighting at the beginning of the 20th century; Beaton used the cages as wardrobes to store the costumes for his play "The Gainsborough Girls".

[9] Beaton also added the indoor "Winter Garden" with a glass dome roof and a small pool in the marble floor.

[1] In 1980, Ursula Henderson bought the house from the estate of Cecil Beaton and lived there until 1987, when she moved to the neighbouring village of Bishopstone.

[2] While living at Reddish House, Henderson kept macaws which flew noisily and freely around the village, stripping bark from trees.

[2] The house was owned and extensively renovated by musician Robert Fripp and his wife Toyah Willcox from December 1987 until July 1999.