By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group
From the mid 1800s until about 60 years ago Lindfield was virtually encircled by big houses and their grounds. This article looks at two of these houses: Barrington House, the last large villa built in the parish, and Buxshalls.
A large Edwardian villa, Barrington House was built between c1904 and 1906 to the north of By Sunte. Its extensive grounds had for centuries been used for farming and woodland. The first occupant, Mrs Ann Phyllis Powys, was probably responsible for building the house as Barrington was a name within the family. Born Ann Greenwood at Wallingford in 1825, she had been married to Philip Lybbe Powys, an Eton and Balliol College educated barrister and MP for Newport Isle of Wight. They separated in 1863 and it is not known why she moved to Lindfield 40 years later. Mrs Powys lived in some comfort, as the 1911 census describes her as ‘living on private means’ with a cook, parlourmaid, housemaid and resident nurse to look after her. Ann Powys died at Barrington House on 21st February 1912.
Buxshalls near Lindfield
In 1913 Barrington House was occupied by Mr and Mrs Charles Weatherby and their son Thomas. Charles Weatherby, born May 1860, was a partner in Weatherbys. He died in Lindfield on 24th June 1913. Interestingly, seven generations of the Weatherby family have been involved in British horse racing since the formation of the Jockey Club, when in 1770 James Weatherby, a Newcastle solicitor, was appointed Secretary to the Jockey Club, Keeper of the Match Book and Stakeholder. This led to him publishing the Racing Calendar and later the first authentic Stud Book. Since that time, Weatherbys has provided the central administration for horseracing and maintained the register of all thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland. Also acting as horseracing’s bankers resulted in the creation of Weatherbys Bank. Weatherbys had been a family partnership until 1994 when it became a private limited company owned by the family. The death of Thomas Weatherby in 1915, denied the family business of a potential key member.
Thomas Weatherby attended Winchester College between 1907 and 1913 and played cricket for their first team. Being a keen cricketer he was a prominent playing member of Lindfield Cricket Club. At the outbreak of the Great War, he volunteered to serve King and Country and was commissioned, joining the 9th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, and promoted to Captain in February 1915. From November 1914 his Battalion was training in Dorset, and, while stationed at Wimborne, Thomas contracted spotted fever (meningococcal meningitis) and died at the Alexandra Military Hospital, Cosham, on 8th May 1915, aged 20. His body was brought home and buried at Walstead Cemetery with full military honours; 150 soldiers from the 2nd London Rifles lined the approach to the cemetery and fired three volleys over the grave.
From 1929 to the mid 1930s it was the family home of Sir William Pell Barton and his wife, following his return from India. Sir William Pell Barton was born in 1871. After university he went to India in 1893 and rose through the ranks of the political system holding many senior posts, such as British Commissioner. In recognition of his service, in 1927 he was Knighted Commander in the Order of the Indian Empire. An authority on the North West Frontier and the Princely States of India, he wrote a number of books, including The Princes of India (1934), India’s North West Frontier (1939), and India’s Fateful Hour (1942).
Sir William and Lady Barton’s younger daughter, Elizabeth Vidal Barton, married Sir Richard Hamilton 9th Baronet of Silvertonhill, a schoolmaster at Ardingly College, in April 1952 at Ardingly. Elizabeth, a prolific historical biographer, wrote the definitive account of the salacious Mordaunt affair that resulted in the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, and friends being cited in divorce proceedings.
The Bartons were followed in the mid 1930s by Marquess Hastings William Sackville Russell, later 12th Duke of Bedford. He would appear to have owned Barrington House, as in 1948 records show he sold Barrington Lodge that stood in the grounds. A keen ornithologist, the Marquess bred many species of parrots and parrot-like birds in aviaries constructed in the grounds, approximately where Barrington Road is today. He occupied Barrington House until it was requisitioned by the military during the Second World War.
After the War the property was converted into flats and further modified in about 1970 into three separate dwellings. Turning to Buxshalls, this name is Saxon in origin and over the centuries its land has seen many owners. The current house, called Buxshalls, was built in 1825 in the Italianate style by William Jolland as his family home. The estate comprised the house, grounds, entrance lodge (built 1876), two large fish ponds and four farms totalled some 500 acres. It passed down the Jolland family line and when Jolland’s only daughter, Katherine Mary Jolland, married Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Sampson in 1878 they received Buxshalls as their home.
The Sampsons added the west wing to the house, which provided a large drawing room with bedroom above and also installed a new grand front staircase. In total there were four reception rooms, a billiard room, fifteen bedrooms and dressing rooms but apparently only one family bathroom. Looking after them in the 1900s was a butler, cook, four servants and a chauffeur.
The house, surrounded by impressive gardens that contained a balustraded terrace, lawns, herbaceous borders and Venetian temple, was set in picturesque parkland with ponds. The grounds, tended by several gardeners, ran down to the River Ouse with two thatched boathouses linked by a covered bridge. In a wooded grove north of the house, the Sampsons built a mortuary chapel as the final resting place for their son who died in 1899 of diphtheria.
Dudley Sampson, born in 1841, joined the Army aged 16 and was posted to India. His regiment saw much action in quelling the India Mutiny. An illustrious military career followed during which he played prominent roles in many campaigns across India.
When not soldiering he was a fine sportsman and gentleman rider, with 42 wins in 52 races. Travelling was also another great passion. He was a keen writer and the author of several songs, including For Union and for Queen, a song for loyal Ireland sung at the Ulster demonstration at the Royal Albert Hall in 1893. The music for this song together with his The Veterans Song was composed by Lady Arthur Hill (famous for In the Gloaming). His book of Songs of Love and Life was published in 1918 after his death and republished in 2016.
Colonel and Mrs Sampson were social leaders in Lindfield, being active in all aspects of public life and supporters of local good causes. He played a major role in driving forward the building of King Edward Hall. Additionally, he was a Justice of the Peace, a County Councillor for the area and a Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex.
He died at Buxshalls in 1917 and his widow two years later; they were interred alongside their son in the mortuary chapel.
From 1927 Buxshalls was the home of Sir Henry Cautley, a barrister, judge and the Member of Parliament for East Grinstead from 1910 until 1936, and his wife. On retirement he was raised to the peerage as the 1st Baron Cautley of Lindfield. Baroness Cautley died in 1943 and on his death in 1946, aged 82, the barony became extinct. Buxshalls was owned from 1947 by Sidney Askew and his wife Dorothy, nee Rank (as in Rank Hovis McDougall). After they left Buxshalls, it became a residential home for the elderly and now stands empty, with an uncertain future.