St Mary’s House – Toovey’s Blog

St Mary’s House Bramber Preserved for the Local Community

An ancient arch opening onto one of St Mary’s beautiful gardens

St Mary’s House and Gardens have been generously gifted to the newly formed St Mary’s House Trust by its long term custodians Peter Thorogood., MBE and Roger Linton., MBE.

Peter Thorogood explains “It was always our ambition to bring the house and gardens together – an impossible task – but by constantly re-investing the profits we have been able to reach our ultimate goal of leaving St Mary’s for the benefit of the community.”

“It was on the ‘at risk register’ when I bought St Mary’s in 1984 – a Grade I listed building, it was a great responsibility.”

Peter and Roger were part of a generation seeking to re-articulate our sense of nationhood and hope after the Second World War. Their respective journeys seem to have prepared them for the enormous task of preserving such a famous house and creating its beautiful gardens.

Peter reflects “Our devotion to the cause of heritage is the result of our very English upbringings. We understand the importance of our nation’s values and culture.”

Roger agrees and says “My parents bought a medieval timber framed farmhouse in Suffolk. It was in some disrepair. There was a sapling growing up through the parlour floor, but we weren’t discouraged and it was good experience for St Mary’s House.”

Roger trained at the Royal College of Art in London and was a contemporary of the artist David Hockney and the fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. He would restore numerous houses and gardens over the years. A gifted restorer and designer Roger was able to sensitively repair the house in the early days and his garden designs at St Mary’s are beautiful.

Peter explains “I brought the rest of the arts: music, lectures, poetry, talks and concerts.”

Peter applied his experience at the British Council as well as his gifts as a writer, composer and researcher to the task of preserving St Mary’s. His love of music and theatre are given expression in the program of concerts and performances which are at the heart of St Mary’s life.

Peter is delighted that visitors come from across the United Kingdom and Europe. He explains “I am passionate about English literature and taught from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf internationally with the British Council.” Peter is himself a respected author.

Closer to home the extraordinary community of gifted volunteers and Friends of St Mary’s have joined with Peter and Roger in their work.

I comment that there is a real quality of calling and vocation apparent in their life and work at St Mary’s. Peter’s face breaks into a smile and he replies “Yes, calling and vocation in looking after the house, this place, its history and the people St Mary’s gathers. It’s always been for the benefit of others, the public, as well as ourselves.”

These generous custodians are deserving of our thanks. They have always wanted to share St Mary’s with others and thanks to their hard work and generosity St Mary’s will remain accessible and at the heart of the local community for future generations.

St Mary’s House and Gardens, The Street, Bramber, BN44 3WE, opens to the public for the 2019 season on Thursday 2nd May. For further details of opening times, concerts and events visit www.stmarysbramber.co.uk or telephone 01903 816205.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Royal Visit Celebrates Heritage and Community

HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent with Peter Thorogood, Roger Linton, and The Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Susan Pyper, opening the new King’s Garden at St Mary’s, Bramber

It is a bright early Summer afternoon as Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent opens the new King’s Garden in the company of the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Susan Pyper, Peter Thorogood, Roger Linton and the volunteers at St Mary’s House and Gardens, Bramber. Heritage, hard work and community are affirmed and celebrated.

Peter Thorogood., MBE and Roger Linton., MBE, bought the house and gardens in 1984. Their passion for this wonderful place is infectious. They have created and gathered a community of people around the house and gardens. This team of volunteers have also offered their resources, time and talents to the repair, restoration and maintenance of this important house and garden.

Peter Thorogood has just celebrated his 90th birthday. I offer my congratulations on his birthday and work at St Mary’s. He responds self-effacingly noting the “hard work of the volunteers” and the camaraderie of all who have been involved in the house and gardens. These sentiments are echoed by Roger Linton who reflects upon how he gains such “pleasure from their pleasure”.

Whilst we await the arrival of the Princess I join the volunteers in the tea rooms. The great affection in which they hold Peter and Roger quickly becomes apparent. They clearly value the friendships and sense of community which underpins the work of St Mary’s.

HRH Princess Alexandra is shown around the house and gardens. She pauses in the Jubilee Garden to admire the Princess Alexandra of Kent roses and the Acer palmatum shindeshojo which has been planted to mark her visit.

The King’s Garden also shares a royal theme and has been designed by Roger Linton to commemorate Prince Charles, later Charles II’s escape through Bramber village to Brighton and then to Shoreham from where he would sail into exile in France. It is said that Charles eluded the Parliamentarian forces at both Houghton and Bramber by disguising himself as Colonel George Gunter’s servant and leading his horse. At the heart of The King’s Garden is a sapling oak whose lineage goes back to the famous Boscobel Oak in which Charles II hid after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

St Mary’s House and Gardens has a vital and continuing role in our community. Its story encompasses and tells the story of our county’s place in the history of our nation.

The vision, dedication, hard work and generosity of Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton has permanently written their names into the story and history of this grand old house and her gardens.

These generous custodians have always wanted to share St Mary’s with others and it is their intention that St Mary’s will remain accessible and at the heart of the local community for future generations.

St Mary’s House and Gardens, The Street, Bramber, BN44 3WE, are open to the public for the 2017 season. For further details of opening times, concerts and events visit www.stmarysbramber.co.uk or telephone 01903 816205.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

St Mary’s House Welcomes Visitors over the Centuries

As you walk up the garden path through the beautifully clipped topiary St Mary’s House reveals herself. The close set vertical timbers and contrasting white panels reflect the light with a particular quality.

St Mary’s captured the imaginations of her current custodians and patrons, Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton, who bought the house and gardens in 1984. They have worked tirelessly and invested constantly in the house and gardens which were in some disrepair when they took them on. It has always been their express wish to open them to the public.

Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton at work in the Library of St Mary’s House, Bramber

Their different gifts have blessed St Mary’s. Peter brought his experience at the British Council and his talents as a writer and researcher to the task of preserving St Mary’s. Roger, with a background in design seeded at the Royal College of Art, brought his skills as a conservator and set about restoring the property and designing the gardens. Peter’s love of music and theatre are given expression in the program of concerts and theatre which are also at the heart of St Mary’s life.

The house we see today incorporates the surviving wing from the late 15th century when William of Waynflete, the Bishop of Winchester, built a new Chapel House around a galleried courtyard. The house is a good example of the use of close set vertical timbers known as close studding which became widespread in Sussex at that time. The house would have originally welcomed pilgrims.

The Painted Room with trompe l’oeil panels which are believed to date from Tudor times

Although there is a grandeur to this wonderful old house it is very much a home informed by the passions and interests of Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton. The collections and furniture speak of their lives, families and interests. I discover them at work in the Library. They tell me about the continuing challenges of restoring and preserving this important landmark in the history of Sussex. We walk along the landing as they speak passionately about the history of the house. I am always delighted by the Painted Room with its trompe l’oeil panels. Peter explains that they are thought to date from Tudor times. The panels have beautifully painted landscapes and sea-battle vignettes.

Over the years they have inspired a team of volunteers and friends to join them. Peter and Roger have a deep sense of dedication to this place and their vision to share St Mary’s with all of us. The care of St Mary’s has become a way of life for them and they deserve our thanks.

Whether you are visiting for the first time or returning to an old friend, as I often do, St Mary’s has a particular gift of taking us out of the busyness of our own lives and allowing us to see ourselves in that broad procession of human history of which Sussex has so often been at the centre. St Mary’s House and Gardens are open to the public for the 2017 season. For further details of opening times, concerts and events visit www.stmarysbramber.co.uk.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

St Mary’s House, Hospitality over Centuries

Over the centuries people have journeyed along ancient Sussex lanes in the shadow of the Downs. These Pilgrim routes brought people to the important bridge at Bramber and to St Mary’s House and Gardens which still welcomes visitors today.

In Saxon and medieval times Steyning was an important port. The Adur estuary was much wider than it is today. In the late 11th century William de Braose had built the castle at Bramber to protect the estuary and town.

Rupert Toovey and the pilgrim’s bridge at St Ives, Cambridgeshire

A great stone bridge, now lost, crossed the Adur. It was built with a chapel upon it. The Priory at Sele had responsibility for its upkeep and repair. The bridge at St Ives in Cambridgeshire was built in the 1420s. With its bridge chapel it allows us to glimpse what the bridge at Bramber may have looked like. The bridge at Bramber would have brought pilgrims to St Mary’s House. In those days this Hospitalier house would have provided rest and accommodation to travellers. The rooms were arranged around an enclosed courtyard. Visitors today can still see the east wing with its rare interiors, painted panels and collections. The house is a good example of the use of jettying. Technically and aesthetically it marked a significant development in vernacular architecture. The use of close set vertical timbers is known as close studding. This decorative type of construction became widespread in Sussex in the 15th century.

Thanks to the generosity of Peter Thorogood, who bought St Mary’s House in 1984, and Roger Linton, the house and gardens still offer great hospitality. They have spent more than 30 years conserving this remarkable house and creating a series of gardens.

From the time of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, roses have been associated with the veneration of Jesus Christ’s mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, after whom St Mary’s house is named. The rose garden at the house is at its best right now. The gardens, designed by Roger Linton and restored by an army of volunteers, gift us with space in the busyness of our modern lives, a generous punctuation mark – time to imagine and to be.

Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton are deserving of our thanks. These generous custodians have always wanted to share St Mary’s with others and it is their intention that St Mary’s will remain accessible and at the heart of the local community for future generations.

St Mary’s House and gardens are open to the public throughout the summer season on Sunday afternoons and Bank Holiday Mondays. For further details go to www.stmarysbramber.co.uk or telephone 01903 816205.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

St Mary’s House and Garden

It is a bright spring evening as the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Mrs Susan Pyper, leads a gathering of friends and supporters at St Mary’s House and gardens, Bramber. We have come together to celebrate thirty years of conservation and restoration led by Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton.

The paths to the house and gardens are lined with primroses, violets and forget-me-nots, proof that spring has finally arrived. Guests include those who have supported Peter and Roger over many years in their desire to preserve and share the delights of St Mary’s House, Bramber.

The vision, dedication, hard work and generosity of Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton has permanently written their names into the story and history of this grand old house and her gardens. They have gathered a community of people around the house and gardens who have also offered their resources, time and talents to this project.

Susan Pyper at St Mary's House Bramber — Mrs Susan Pyper, The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, presenting Peter Thorogood, MBE, and Roger Linton, MBE, with a plaque commemorating 30 years of restoration and conservation at St Mary’s House and gardens

In the wonderful music room, with its large windows and gothic revival fireplace, Susan Pyper, The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, speaks affectionately of the pleasure of returning “to be amongst friends”. She thanks the Friends of St Mary’s House and all those who had played their part in this evolving project as supporters and donors. Turning her attention to Peter and Roger she praises them saying that their “generosity of spirit knows no bounds.” Mrs Pyper acknowledges St Mary’s House and gardens as “a jewel in the crown of West Sussex with an international reputation.” The charitable trust, set up to support the house and gardens for the public’s benefit, has given an Acer Palmatum de shojo. Susan Pyper presents Peter and Roger with a commemorative plaque to accompany the tree and occasion.

Peter Thorogood responds saying that St Mary’s, Bramber is “all about people”. He notes the “friendly atmosphere and generosity” of all who had been involved in the house and gardens. These sentiments are echoed by Roger Linton who, reflecting on the visitors before the reception, remarks upon how he gains such “pleasure from their pleasure”.

The Terrace Garden viewed through a wide stone arch

Peter and Roger’s work and aspirations give expression to a deep sense of calling and vocation to this place and their vision to share St Mary’s with all of us. These ambitions have been at the heart of their lives and work. They richly deserve our thanks.

Whether visiting for the first time or returning to an old friend, as I often do, St Mary’s, Bramber never fails to delight with its architecture, collections, gardens and sense of history. St Mary’s House and gardens opens to the public for the 2015 season this coming Bank Holiday Sunday afternoon, 3rd May, 2-6pm. For further details go to www.stmarysbramber.co.uk or telephone 01903 816205.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 29th April 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.