Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The principal building was constructed between 1793 and 1799 and demolished in 1926. Only the gatehouse and Eastwell towers of the original building remain, with a new house constructed on the site between 1926 and 1928 by Sir John Pennefather. The house is now a hotel.

Monument Types

• CROQUET LAWN (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• GARDEN TERRACE (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• ORNAMENTAL FOUNTAIN (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• POOL (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• ROSE GARDEN (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• SUMMERHOUSE (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Little is known of the early history of Eastwell Manor but In 1589 a licence was granted to enclose not more than 1000 acres and embattle the house. The full extent of the park is unknown (1)

Once an extensive (650 hectares) and picturesque park, there are still many grand trees, although approximately 25% of the remaining parkland trees were destroyed in the 1987 storm.

To the front of the house is a somewhat bleak courtyard car park with a few stone tubs as ornaments. The formal gardens at the back of the house have recently been re-modelled and the current gardeners are endeavouring to improve the rather scant ornamental planting and bedding material.
A stone balustraded veranda leads down from the house to a terrace with herbaceous plants and roses. The central stairway then leads to a circular pool with central ornate fountain incorporating dolphins within a scallop shell. Beyond is a grassed area enlivened with yew pillars and ending with views over the parkland beyond.
At the side of the house is a croquet lawn, a sunken rose garden and various formal bedding areas. A summer house has been renovated and re-roofed (1987) and an ornamental pool was drained in July 1988 for re-proofing. Twelve trees were lost within the formal gardens in the 1987 storm including Scots pine, oak and copper beech. The gardens have a grandiose air which would be further much improved by more luxuriant planting of herbaceous/shrubbery plants.
The Victorian house was demolished in the 1920s and the present Gothic style house built between 1926 and 1928 for Sir John Pennefather. There is an impressive neo-Jacobean Gatehouse built around 1843 in flint and stone.

<1> Susan Pittman, 2011, Elizabethan and Jacobean Deer Parks in Kent (Monograph). SKE32115.

Sources and further reading