Stedham Hall

Stedham Hall is one of many historic buildings in this pretty village. The River Rother runs  just below the Hall. The original date is thought to be 1520 although a date stone of 1519 is now known to have been brought from somewhere else and set into a later extension. 
 
Would you believe the Victorians turned it into a typical Victorian villa, hiding the lovely timberwork. What we see today has much of the original brick and stone work on the lower storey but the timbering on the upper storey is either restored or relatively modern.

An advertisement for the Hall to be let around 1870 said “the situation is healthy and commanding fine views of the countryside.” It is still beautiful but having seen the area under pollution from the top of the nearby Downs, I doubt that ‘healthy’ still applies.

Today the building houses rather nice flats.

Years ago we were interested in buying the tiny cottages the other side of the river, until we discovered that they flood every few years. Yet every time we drive past, even on an overcast day like today, I have a pang and a little wonder what it would have been like living with this view.