East Grinstead Tourist Information

East Grinstead, on the edge of Ashdown Forest at the very east of the county and only 30 miles from London, has a High Street with the longest continuous run of 14th century timber-framed buildings in England.

East Grinstead is the home of Standen, a show piece of the Arts and Crafts Movement at its best. It is a large family house of the 1890's designed for James Beale, a London solicitor, by the architect Philip Webb. It retains the furniture, fittings and decoration designed and made for it by Webb, his friend William Morris, and other artists and craftsmen of the period when British design led the world. Here you can see pre-Raphaelite pictures by Edward Burne-Jones, Fore Maddox Brown and other artists of the period.

The garden at Standen combines the talents of Webb and Margaret Beale, a skilled plantswoman, with an informal layout using both native and exotic plants. From the top terrace there are glorious views over the Ashdown Forest towards Crowborough Beacon.