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welcome to west stoke | |
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the house | ||
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the rooms | ||
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the restaurant | ||
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garden and around | ||
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conference facilities | ||
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weddings & parties | ||
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art @ west stoke | ||
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what the press say | ||
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how to find us | ||
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| The house... | |
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When Rowland and Mary Leach discovered the house three years ago it was rather down at heel,
but after ten gruelling months of sensitive building work it has been transformed into an exclusive restaurant with rooms. Initial impressions of West Stoke's Georgian design veil its medieval origins which can be traced back to before the Norman Conquest. Parts of the original timber beams can still be seen today in the attic bedrooms. By the 17th century the timber frame had been surrounded by a 'stone built house', reflecting fashions from nearby Chichester. From the eighteen century, West Stoke House became part of the Goodwood Estate, and for more than 20 years home to Lord George Lennox, whose sisters Sarah, Caroline, Emily and Louise visited often and whose lives and loves inspired the book by Stella Tilyard and its television dramatisation "Aristocrats". It was probably at this time that the house was further extended to the east with a new wing and façade, giving the property its present graceful proportions. Lord George died in 1805. The Goodwood Estate then leased the land to various tenants through the 19th century. By 1912 the house and estate were put on the market and the unity of the manor, which had lasted for over a thousand years, was sadly at an end. Thankfully West Stoke House has once again regained its former elegance and warm sociability to become a country retreat of the finest proportions. |
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West Stoke House
West Stoke Chichester West Sussex PO18 9BN T. 01243 575 226 E. info@weststokehouse.co.uk |