Newbuildings Place

History

Newbuildings Place was built by Philip Caryll in the 17th century, around 1683. Caryll's family owned the estate for over 100 years. The house was built with numerous priest holes, as the Caryll family were Roman Catholic. It is situated around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the church in Shipley, West Sussex.

In the 1820s and 1830s, paupers were housed at Newbuildings Place. In 1833, some of the paupers damaged the house by using its wood panelling for firewood. The building is a former home of Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, an author, poet and Arabian horse breeder. Blunt originally lived in the house from 1870 to 1872, during which time he added oak to the house's porch and panelling. He moved back into Newbuildings Place in 1906, after his separation from Lady Anne Blunt. Whilst living there, he bought tapestries and furniture from William Morris, which still survive in the house. Blunt is buried in a tomb in the house's grounds; in his will, he requested to be buried in the house's woods in his travelling carpet rather than in a coffin.

Blunt's daughter, who inherited the house, was married to Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton. In 1957, the house was sold to Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth, and after being owned by some of her relatives, it was then owned by John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton. In 1959, the house became a Grade I listed building. The grounds of the house contain a Grade II listed barn, and a Grade II listed dovecote.