![]() ![]() There is a second bedroom and shower room with separate wc and a refitted kitchen with integrated oven, hob, fridge/freezer, and washer/dryer. The accommodation comprises a generous sitting room and master bedroom, both of which provide access to the southerly facing balcony. The apartment is situated on the second floor of the prestigious Saffrons Court development opposite Saffrons Cricket Ground. Refitted kitchen with integrated appliancesĮnviably located in the Saffrons area of Eastbourne, a well proportioned apartment with large balcony affording a delightful aspect over the communal grounds towards the Compton Estate.Harold MacMillan put the blocks on investigations into the circumstances of the duke’s death, supposedly out of fear that the press might dig up dirt about his wife Dorothy’s affair with Lord Boothby – Dorothy being the sister of the 10th duke. The doctor was Eastbourne’s notorious alleged (but acquitted) serial killer of 163 patients, the precursor to Dr Shipman – Dr John Bodkin Adams, whose preference was usually for elderly wealthy widows, but had apparent motive for killing the duke as he was a member of the Plymouth Brethren and had a loathing of freemasons, of which the duke was one. The local doctor was called and three hours later the duke was dead. He and his son had been felling a tree in the grounds when he felt unwell. There is a fascinating little side note about the 10th duke’s death. The reason the Devonshires gave it up as their holiday home was the death of the tenth Duke and the resultant punitive death duties, which forced the sale of land and the leasing of the house and grounds. The house became a language school in the 1950s. This was built by Spencer Compton in expectation of a visit by King George II – which didn’t happen due to the demise of poor old Spencer soon after becoming PM. One of the most spectacular rooms in the house is the Duke’s bedroom. The presence of the compass and hammer is possibly to signify his architect role – but more likely a masonic connection. The only surviving image of the architect, Colen Campbell, anywhere in the world is here in the Gallery in a ceiling panel. The room is marred by the presence of hideous 1960s strip lighting – which as it was there at the time of the listing cannot be removed without permission of English Heritage and Eastbourne Borough Council (the latter is apparently the greater challenge) and would require significant cost. The Library has beautiful original leather wallpaper. This was a superb example of the work of Campbell – who never visited the place he had designed. The first room we visited was the former dining room, now a classroom. The cyclamen were blooming in a wooded glade behind the house. As we went around the house it was apparent that a lot of things have been relocated to Chatsworth: other than copies or items of no significant value, most of the paintings have gone. What was once a statue-lined walk has now lost its statues – removed to Chatsworth for health and safety reasons to avoid them toppling and crushing the pupils playing in the grounds of the school. In a walled garden we came across this bothy, built as a playhouse for the Devonshire children and currently housing bits and pieces of listed “stuff” that has to be preserved. Alongside stabling for horses and carriages, the block in the photo was dedicated to cows and sheep below and grooms above. The house was acquired by the Devonshire family by marriage in 1763 when Lady Elizabeth Compton married Lord George Cavendish and in 1858 it was added to the estates of the 7th Duke, William Cavendish. When he finally got his turn 20 years later he died after six months – supposedly due to the stress of the job. The man who commissioned this was Spencer Compton, Britain’s second prime minister, elbowed out of the chance to be the first by Walpole. In 1726 it was remodelled in the Palladian style to the design of Colen Campbell the celebrated architect. ![]() The house was originally Bourne Place, a Jacobean manor, a few bits of which survive (a staircase and some panelling), and some form of house may have existed there since Tudor times. ![]() Most people in Eastbourne have no idea that Compton Place exists, hidden by flint walls and encircled by the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club (also leased from the Devonshires). The house is Grade I listed and not open to the public. The house and grounds are owned by the Duke of Devonshire and for the past sixty years have been leased to a ladies’ finishing school which since became a language school. Thanks to the Sussex Archaeological Society I was lucky enough to have a tour of Compton Place here in Eastbourne. ![]()
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