This cache is accessible from the public footpaths, there is no
need to enter the grounds of Sackville College. Parking is
available on the high street (20p for 20min), or free at East Court
Mansion (a short walk around the corner). It is opposite the start
of the forest way cycle path for those on bikes! We live locally
and often walk past this spot. The cache site was suggested by our
8 year old son who is looking forward to trying to spot people
looking for it! Sackville College stands in an ancient part of East
Grinstead in Sussex. It is very near Standen, a National Trust
Property, and also Ashdown Forest. This cache is accessible from
the public footpaths, there is no need to enter the grounds of
Sackville College. Parking is available on the high street (20p for
20min), or free at East Court Mansion (a short walk around the
corner). It is opposite the start of the forest way cycle path for
those on bikes!
We live locally and often walk past this spot. The cache site
was suggested by our 8 year old son who is looking forward to
trying to spot people looking for it!
Sackville College stands in an ancient part of East Grinstead in
Sussex. It is very near Standen, a National Trust Property, and
also Ashdown Forest.
Robert Sackville, second Earl of Dorset, provided by his will,
1609, £1,000 (or as much as necessary) for building in East
Grinstead 'Sackville College for the poor' and annual charges on
his properties for running it. 21 men and 10 women, all unmarried,
were to have a room and pension, one man being Warden, assisted by
two townsmen. The building, of Sussex sandstone (said to be from
Old Buckhurst, Withyham), with quarters for the Dorsets' use when
required, was apparently complete and in use within ten years. Its
quadrangle recalls an Oxford College, though homelier and more
peaceful. ('College' refers to a group of people leading a common
life together.) Its first years were marred by difficulty in
collecting the income, even after litigation; five early inmates
starved to death. The most famous Warden was John Mason Neale,
1846-66, the hymnologist. By his time the buildings were in such
serious disrepair that he had them thoroughly restored, 1848-52,
under the great William Butterfield. Beyond extending the Chapel
eight feet and giving it an arched E. window he did it with such
sensitivity and respect for its Jacobean features that hardly
anyone is conscious of its restoration.
If you're in the mood to do another cache after this, our
Meridian cache is just a short walk away.
