The house, set high on the South Downs, was built for Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville (1655—1701), circa 1690; the architect is believed to have been William Talman.

[citation needed] Their only son, Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh, added to the collection and commissioned Humphry Repton to add a new pillared portico, dairy and landscaped garden.

[6] This development was further encouraged by his discovery, in Uppark's large library, of works by philosophers and radicals such as Plato, Voltaire and Thomas Paine.

[7] These impressions were reflected in his later work: for example, the contrast between the sunny and carefree world of the Eloi and the dark caves of the Morlocks in The Time Machine is commonly regarded to have been inspired by the inequalities Wells observed at Uppark.

[8] Also significant was Wells' discovery of a telescope in the house's attic, which gave the future author of The War of the Worlds his first opportunity to examine the night sky in detail.

[9] On 30 August 1989 the building was devastated by a fire caused by a workman's blowtorch whilst repairing lead flashing on the roof, just two days before the work was due to be completed.

[11] Some "critical markers" remain where visitors can still see the history of the fire, for example many of the floorboards on the principal ground floor retain burn marks.