The first mansion house was erected in 1815 either by Thomas Bradford or by Rear Admiral The Honourable Jacob Henniker who lived here from 1822
In 1867 the estate was acquired by Thomas Charles Thompson who was a Member of Parliament at the time and who promptly knocked down the existing building and quickly set about building the neo-Gothic Victorian manor house which remains the heart of the hotel to this day. He also built the little church of St Richard de Wych to the east of the present estate, and a school for the local children. He even provided lunches for them, so you can see the tradition of hospitality at Ashdown Park goes back a long way. Today, the old school building is used for staff accommodation.
Later owners of the house included G K T Fisher who inherited the estate only to be killed in 1917 fighting during the First World War. The house subsequently became a convent and afterwards a corporate headquarters for an international bank, before being acquired by the Elite Group in 1993.
Continuing in the fine tradition of preservation and conservation that had been established by our forebears, we converted the property into the world class, luxury, country house hotel that you see today.
