Saint Hill Manor

One of the finest Sussex sandstone buildings in England, Saint Hill Manor was built in 1792 by Gibbs Crawford. A subsequent owner, Edgar March Crookshank, greatly expanded Saint Hill through the addition of wings onto the Manor.

Other owners of this fine building including Mrs. Drexrel Biddle the American Ambassador's wife, who commissioned the delightful 100ft Monkey Mural, painted by Sir Winston Churchill's nephew. There are 145 monkeys in total and 20 different species. "Much as I tried to prevent it happening, the monkeys resemble human beings," John Spencer Churchill wrote in his autobiography. A capuchin monkey painting under a tree, portrays Sir Winston Churchill.

During the second World War, Mrs Norman Laski generously accommodated Royal Air Force officers, patients of Sir Archibald McIndoe, the pioneer of plastic surgery at East Grinstead's Queen Victoria Hospital. In 1959 the final owner, acclaimed author and founder of the Scientology religion, L. Ron Hubbard, bought the Manor from the Maharajah of Jaipur.

Saint Hill is situated in 59 acres of landscaped gardens, woodlands and lake, open to the public all year round.

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