Inspiration – Herstmonceux Castle

Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built Tudor castle near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England. From 1957 to 1988 its grounds were the home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Today it is used by the Bader International Study Centre of Queen’s University, Canada. Herstmonceux Castle is one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England; brick was an unusual material for the time in Britain. The first written evidence of the existence of the Herst settlement appears in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book which reports that one of William’s closest supporters granted tenancy of the manor at Herst to a man named ‘Wilbert’. By the end of the twelfth century, the family at the manor house at Herst had considerable status. The builders of Herstmonceux Castle concentrated more on grandeur and comfort than on defence.   read more