Gravetye Manor

The two-storey Elizabethan house was built in 1598 by Richard Infield, an ironmaster, for his new bride Katherine Compton. It was the home of William Robinson, author of The English Flower Garden, from 1884 until his death in 1935. He commissioned architect Sir Ernest George to add a matching wing to the northeast and developed the garden into one of the most famous in England. After his death it and the surrounding 1000 acre natural landscaped grounds were left to the Forestry Commission. Used as a base for Canadian Army soldiers during World War II, who dug out parts of Robinson's garden to plant potatoes and leeks to supplement their rations, postwar it was left derelict for many years.