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Jepson Field Book Transcriptions · Jepson Herbarium
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14_20 Gravetye, Sussex - Was the guest of Mr. W. Robinson at his country place, Gravetye, Kingscote, Sussex. He has 1000 acres which he is rapidly planting in trees on the forestry plan. His blocks of Corsican Pine are very fine and have made a growth of 2 ft. or over in some seasons. He is also favoring the oak in some of the old woodlands on the place where the income formerly was mainly from the coppice or undergrowth. He has cut "rides" or lanes through these woods everywhere. At one time this was an "iron" country. Great holes are met with in the woods where they took out the iron. The manufacturers of iron in those days must have been wealthy from their profits because one of |
14_21 October 29, 1905 them built Gravetye Manor, a fine old Elizabethan manor house, covering nearly a half-acre of ground; built of stone, of course, and a very fine old building in excellent preservation. Robinson has added or modified a wing but the fine front is exactly as it was. The house was begun about 1596 and the woodwork completed about seven years later. The date 1603 appears on one of the old carved oak mantels. Then there are old carved oak tables with the dates on them; also oaken cabinets, dressers, etc. Curious are the arched entrance ways to the bedrooms with a raised stone at the bottom (to prevent draughts?) and a battened oak door, very primitive, with the clinched nails showing in the inside and a very primitive latch. |
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