East Court Mansion

Very fine, well designed, and stunning period building with Blue Plaque to front. This lovely big house once belonging to the famous local millionaire philanthropist and businessman Sir Alfred Wagg. (Who's other large home in East Grinstead was the now long demolished great house down in Hermitage Lane. The Hermitage. Of which today sadly only a rear garden wall still now exists. Of a building that, in the dark days of WW2 here in the town, was British Army Southern Area Office of Military Intelligence. HQ Intelligence Element. (What the Luftwaffe bomber aircraft came here to destroy that fateful and infamous day to bomb. When it rained down explosive bombs upon the town population. Instead of completing its secondary target of intetest advised mission, it missed the intended target the Hermitage house, as it was deeply protected by its position below the old stones of the Hermitage Lane. They released their Junkers JU88 bomb load too late, or were simply flying too fast in the engagement to attack. They later on engaged military targets - soldiers in uniform from an area training large scale exercise of troops of various Allied forces command, as well as local townspeople in the streets of the London Road area with machine guns. After a bomb run attack release exhausted their available munitions on the old Bookshop then Tooths rear area. And straight across and downwards to the right hand side of the London Road. Resulting in the terrible unprecedented massacre at the White Hall Cinema. The large number of casualties killed was probably three times that recorded officially on the local town area official remembrances of the occasion. For secrecy reasons the true number of dead soldiers buried here in unmarked mass grave at Mount Noddy cemetery, was never disclosed to the public. There were eyewitness reports, of people I personally knew and interviewed there on the day, stated up to 150 soldiers or more, were killed in addition to the listed total of local civilians. They did not want any word of military success getting back to German Military Intelligence. Or a further raid likely would have resulted. With more aircraft and larger casualty rates. Hence why it was ordered the enemy German aircraft must be urgently at all costs shot down before it could cross the English Channel following the attack.) And that Hermitage building there - that the Germans had obviously found out about - which I personally happen to know was as Army HQ Intelligence office, was therefore often regularly visited by Army Senior Command Staff cars convoys. Monty's one. (my late Uncle Henry was often within, as one of Monty's massive personal Staff) in travels across to East Grinstead, from nearby Tunbridge Wells. The home town of Field Marshall Montgomery. (Later Montgomery of Alamein.) The house, here at East Court, despite popular myth was not with the whole Eastcourt Estate gifted to the people of East Grinstead Town in perpetuity for future all time, by Alfred Wagg. I grew up being told and believing that to be true that it was gifted by him. In the time prior to Covid however, the local fantastic EG Tourism Office staff searched old documents to find the truth. That the estate at East Court was in fact sold to the Town Council. Not gifted to it at all in reality. As many had for decades past erroneously grown up being told was so. Fantastic rear sculpted lawns to the house, as any stately mansion house of the period should have.Bad point - Vastly overrun large ponds area at lower rear of gardens, has by successive local Town Council local government been allowed to fall into ruin. Overgown with brambles plants and unmaintained largely. It has sadly become an ignored waste ground area. A spoilt amenity of the town abandoned by the Town Council over many decades now sadly. I miss walking around the pond. As one could easily do when I was young. Instead over the years since the Town Council has systematically been derelict of duty in maintaining access within. Saddens me to see in years past. A place I long loved abandoned to care.

We love East Court park! We frequently go to the play area - my little one loves it best out of all play areas in East Grinstead. There are plenty of picnic tables if you are planning a picnic. If the day is sunny and warm you can always have a picnic in the vast beautiful green areas surrounding the Mansion. Sometimes there are pop up vans offering food and drink there. You can also find a variety of trees, flowers and other plants in the park.

A huge public event was being held when we visited East Court Mansion to see the Millennium Stone. This now has an information board about its creation. Interesting to note that it is also a Geocache 'Earthcache' which bears the inscription, This stone is not only a monument to the Year 2000 but also a tribute to the town's people

Great place to take the dog for a run around.Good tracks through the forest at the bottom too, including streams

Beautiful location and venue. Attend a function here. Was clean

Great place