History of the Normanhurst Estate, home to the Brasseys

Join us for Bexhill History Hour and the remarkable story of the Normanhurst Estate at Catsfield near Battle. Normanhurst Court was a vast Victorian country house built in 1869–70 for railway contractor Thomas Brassey, later associated with his son, Thomas, 1st Earl Brassey. The talk explores the Brassey family’s achievements, Liberal politics, imperial service, Lady Annie Brassey’s collecting and travel writing, and the estate’s later lives as a First World War military hospital, girls’ school and POW camp. Demolished in 1951, its grounds survive today. Presented by David EP Dennis, Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.