Historic houses · South East England
Birch Grove
In or near Forest Row.
Birch Grove — a Grade II*-listed historic house in england-south-east, United Kingdom.
Shazz — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2 h
- Nearest railway station
- Horsted Keynes · 4.0 km
- Family-friendly
- Limited wheelchair access
Getting there & planning your visit
To visit Birch Grove, the nearest railway station is Horsted Keynes, which is 4 km away. The postcode for sat-nav is RH17 7DG. Please note that wheelchair accessibility is limited.
About
Birch Grove is a Grade II*-listed building in england-south-east, United Kingdom. Grade II* status is conferred by Historic England (or Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland or NIEA equivalents) on buildings of exceptional national interest. See the linked Wikipedia article for full historical and architectural details.
Photo gallery
Protected designations
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: Ashdown Forest SSSI
- Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: High Weald
Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
Birch Grove, in Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, England, is a country house dating from 1926. It was the family home of Harold Macmillan, the British prime minister from 1957 to 1963, who died there in 1986. During Macmillan's time, Charles de Gaulle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nikita Khrushchev, Jawaharlal Nehru and John F. Kennedy stayed as guests at Birch Grove. The house is now owned by the Scottish entrepreneur James Hay. Birch Grove is a Grade II listed building.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
Maurice Macmillan and his wife Helen (known as Nellie) bought the estate, a large house and just over 100 acres of land, in May 1906 for £13,000. The house was almost completely rebuilt in 1926 at Nellie's insistence. At the same time, Nellie persuaded Maurice to disinherit Harold's two elder brothers and leave the house and estate to Harold, with a life interest for her. Nellie's devotion to, and support for, Harold was an important factor in his subsequent career; Nellie once admonished Harold's children when they were running through Birch Grove; "Don't kick that door. This house is going to belong to the Prime Minister of England one of these days". Macmillan's diary entry for 7 August…
Architecture
Birch Grove stands on the edge of the Ashdown Forest near Chelwood Gate in East Sussex, although the house itself is in West Sussex. It is a Grade II listed building, although the Historic England listing record makes clear that this is for its historical associations rather than any intrinsic architectural merit. Pevsner Architectural Guides is no more admiring of the house, describing it as " an unhappy union between Queen Anne and a mansard [roof] that weighs the house down". Macmillan's official biographer, Alistair Horne, notes that Nellie's rebuilding of Birch Grove was "one of only two or three such major works of residential construction undertaken during the depression". The house…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.0563, 0.0106
- County
- West Sussex
- District
- Mid Sussex
- Parish
- Horsted Keynes
- Postcode
- RH17 7DG
- Parliamentary constituency
- East Grinstead and Uckfield
- Established
- 1926
- Nearest railway station
- Horsted Keynes — 4 km
Sources
- wikidata: Q15978899 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Birch Grove (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Greenfields School
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Birch Grove?
- Birch Grove is in West Sussex, South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode RH17 7DG), in the parish of Horsted Keynes.
- What is Birch Grove?
- Birch Grove — a Grade II*-listed historic house in england-south-east, United Kingdom.
- How do I get to Birch Grove?
- The nearest railway station is Horsted Keynes, about 4.0 km away. Drivers can use postcode RH17 7DG.
- When was Birch Grove built?
- Built or established in 1926.
- Who owns Birch Grove?
- Birch Grove is owned by James Hay.
- Is Birch Grove a listed building?
- Birch Grove is officially recognised as Grade II* listed.
- Is Birch Grove a protected site?
- Yes — Birch Grove is part of the Ashdown Forest SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the High Weald National Landscape (AONB).
- How do I get to Birch Grove?
- The nearest railway station is Horsted Keynes, about 4.0 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode RH17 7DG.