Normanhurst Court was a large manor house in the village of Catsfield in East Sussex.
Normanhurst Court was a large manor house in the village of Catsfield in East Sussex.
The building of the house was initiated by Thomas Brassey, one of the leading railway builders of the nineteenth century. [1] The works, which were carried out by Lucas Brothers, [2] were completed shortly after he died in 1870 [3] and the house was occupied by Lord Brassey, his son. [1] The house was designed to resemble a French Chateau, and was home of the Brassey family for many years. [1]
The house contained some important portraits by Walter Goodman of Lord Brassey, his wife, Lady Anna Brassey, their children, and Thomas Brassey senior. [4]
It was approached by two entrances each with a lodge. [5] An octagonal water tower rose in the South-West corner of the site. [5] The water tower, a museum and the bachelor's quarters were all situated away from the main building. [5] The estate extended to some 3,400 acres (14 km2) with farmhouses and other buildings. [5]
During World War I it was used as a military hospital for wounded soldiers and, then having been used as a girls' school between the wars, [6] it was used as a Prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. [1] The house was demolished in 1951 [6] and the grounds are now used as a caravan park. [3]
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
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Lucas Brothers was a leading British building business based in London.
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