Burton is recorded in Domesday and referred to as Bothechitone. The manor is listed as having 5 hides, land for 5 ploughs, a mill, 4 acres of meadow and enough woodland for 2 hogs. The manor was held, in part, on payment of 280 eels from the fishery which, Dellaway in his history of Sussex, suggests may be the existing fish ponds and lakes, an interpretation which is supported by Christopher Hussey writing in Country Life in the 1930s.
As Burton recorded in the Domesday Book, an Anglo-Saxon settlement must have existed on the site. It would be logical to conclude that the settlement was reasonably well established by the eleventh century, though there is no indication of when it was originally founded. Taking other Saxon settlements as a guide, it could be assumed that Burton came into being between the 6th – 8thcentury. What is certain though is that Burton Church dates from around 1075, the current building being dateable to around 1291, though it was partly rebuilt in 1636.
Burton Park may owe its origins to Sir William Dawtry who held land known as Bodeketun in 1242. Sir William is know to have been granted free warren in this year but this can only be taken as an indication that hunting rights had been granted over a defined area without being conclusive proof of the creation of a deer park. Dr Williamson has argued that the age of the sweet chestnuts together with the presence of a deserted medieval village implies that the park is of post medieval origins. However, it could also be argued that the sweet chestnuts represent part of the forestry which was established through the downs by the medieval period and that the desertion of the village near the church could in fact represent the sixteenth century expansion of an existing park set to the east of the present house. Given the current state of knowledge, it is not possible to know which of these theories is correct.
From William Dawtrey the property eventually descended to Sir Edwards St John of Barlavington and then to John Goring (died 1520), whose family probably built the first mansion house on the site or in very close proximity to the church. There is some difference of opinion in the archives over the exact period when the house was constructed. Some attribute the first Tudor house to Sir William Goring, suggesting a date of c1520, however, Elwes and Robinson writing in the late nineteenth century elude to its construction after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. What is certain from map evidence is that this initial house was of three storeys with a central entrance, probably on the west front. The house had a pitched roof and two projecting gables on the main elevation with three towering chimney stacks. Maps of 1625 and 1629 show a consistent style for this first house, though some minor interpretations in detail is possible as an elevation of the central bay in Horsfields ‘History of Sussex’ shows the house to have had shaped gables in a Jacobean style. This may, however, have been a later modification.
Assuming Dr Williamson’s theory is correct, the second half of the sixteenth century probably marks the time when Burton was first emparked. It is significant that an inquisition post mortem of 1555 fails to mention a park at Burton, though one certainly existed by 1575 as it is shown on a Saxton’s map of the county (figure 1). The creation of the park can probably therefore be narrowed down to some time in the 20 year period between 1555 and 1575, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the Goring family would have been looking to provide an appropriate setting for the new house. Certainly Sir William Goring is known to have benefited from the Dissolution by being granted lands in the parish which previously belonged to the Nunnery at Godstow, Oxfordshire. Perhaps this additional land combined with the existing holding presented the opportunity to develop the deer park in the 1560s. The deserted medieval village at Burton, located to the west of the church was also probably moved at this time.
There do not seem to be any detailed early maps for Burton Park during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but three early seventeenth century plans of Sutton and Duncton parish, dated 1608, 1625 and 1629 respectively do show parts of the park boundary. The first map is of the Manor of Sutton, 1608 and shows the boundary of Sir Harry Goring’s Park extending much further south than the present day park. Indeed the park pales are shown following the parish boundary between Barlavington and Sutton. Whilst it is not sensible to base too much emphasis on a single map it should be noted that nineteenth century OS maps describe ‘Park Barn’ near the parish boundary and Lodge Copse is still a prominent feature south of Chingford Pond.
The Plott of Duncton Common, dated 1629 (Figure 2) clearly shows the north western park, enclosed by a palisaded, timber, park pale running along the current boundary of the registered landscape. The park pale extends beyond the site of the present North Lodge into what is now Burton Rough, though an entrance gate is shown on the Coate Road. A second entrance to the park is shown opposite Cooper’s Moor. Clearly this map evidence and the current distribution of veteran sweet chestnuts and oaks strongly suggests that the original Tudor deer park occupied an area not too dissimilar from the English Heritage registered boundary of today.
What is also of interest on the 1625 plan is the presence of East Wood which occupies an area slightly larger than its current boundary. No access to the park is shown through the wood, though Henry Goring did own land to the south and access may have been gained from the lane running east from Duncton towards the park.
Burton Park is shown as an enclosed deer park on a number of country maps throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These are small scale maps which do not provide much detail of the landscape except that they consistently show the stream running through the southern part of the park. In the early eighteenth century it is clear that a number of changes had taken place. On Richard Budgen’s county map of 1724 an engine house is shown in the south west corner of the park (figure 3). The annotation states that it is an engine to raise water. Why this was necessary is unclear, but it may have been connected with the Dye House at Duncton which was within the park at this time. It is also possible to speculate that the engine house may have had something to do with the creation of the lakes in the park or more probably in raising water to the house on the hill.
The last member of the Goring family, Sir William, died in 1724 and his sister, Anne (daughter of Sir Henry Goring), inherited. Anne had previously married Richard Biddulph of Staffordshire and thus Burton Park passed to that family. The Biddulph’s tenure at Burton did not get off to the most auspicious start. In the early eighteenth century a fire swept through the Tudor mansion. Country Life attributes the fire to 1739, though records indicate that construction of a replacement house had already started by then. Indeed the fire may be as early as 1736 – 37, and then suggestion by Horsfield that it took place in 1759 is clearly inaccurate.
The designs for the Biddulph’s new house at Burton Park are attributed to Giacomo Lenoi (c. 1686 – 1746). Leoni was, like many of his contemporaries, a Palladian architect. His design for Burton Park is thought to date around 1738 and presented a massive 137 feet, 13 bay main elevation (figure 4). The house was to have a projecting centre of three bays surmounted by a pediment with single bay, terminal divisions at each end a and a rusticated ground floor. This early eighteenth century house must have been a remarkable structure which delighted the owners and set the property on a par with the grandest of neighbours. However, the design was not to everyone’s liking as Elwes and Robinson, writing in the nineteenth century described the building as having. ’ The demerit of being altogether incongruous’. The house was partly set on the footprint of the existing Burton House, though Leoni’s mansion must have extended further south and possibly west than the present building. It is possible that the main elevation faced south as Gardner and Gream show the park extending well beyond the lakes in an arrangement which is implied on the OS first edition of 1813.
As the new house took shape there must undoubtedly have been considerable works taking place in the gardens and grounds. There is still little cartographic evidence to suggest what the gardens or park were like, though contemporary designs for other sites show a loosening of the rigid formality of the early eighteenth century and the development of a more informal, though highly designed style. Little remains of the landscape laid out at this time apart from the walled garden to the east of the House date from around c.1740. It is unclear where this dating comes from but the next available map of the site, Gardner and Gream 1795 shows Chingford Pond as well as Burton Mill Pond further east (see figure 5). The scale does not show the Trout Pond though this was certainly there by this time.
The Gardner and Gream map is the only illustrative source for the landscape in the late eighteenth century and while the basic layout can be relied on, the omission of some details raises the questions over the accuracy of this map. For example, East Wood is not shown and the shape of Chingford Pond varies from reality at the eastern end. Despite this, it does show some interesting features. The drives to the house are from the south, approaching between the Trout and Chingford Ponds with a northern drive coming in between Black Pond Copse and Lodge Green. The park is shown extending north as far as the Coate Road and south beyond the lakes. Lodge Green is outside the park and is bordered on its east side by enclosed fields. It is also possible that the cascade on the dam at the eastern end of Chingford Pond was created in the late eighteenth century, though this dating is based on the brick sizes and a slightly later earlier nineteenth century construction date is also possible.
By the time of the First Edition OS map of 1813 significant changes have occurred in the park landscape (figure 6). The drives still approached from the south west and north east, though on the OS map it is clear that the south west drive cuts across the park from just north of Dye House. An additional drive had been added to the north east which ran from Burton Mill to Lodge Green. This drive ran trough woodland and therefore cartographic evidence supports the establishment of New Piece and New Piece Woods to between 1795 and 1813. The 1813 map also clearly shows a planted line along what is now the western boundary of the gardens south of the house. If this planted line and the current ditch are one and the same it is tempting to suggest that the ha-ha line predates 1813 and may be a feature of the eighteenth century landscaping of the park. The map also appears to show buildings at Lodge Green and the walled garden east of the house. By the nineteenth century the area around Lodge Green had therefore been absorbed into an expanded landscape park.
Richard Biddulph must have made many changes to the estate after inheriting Burton Park in the 1720s. Richard was succeeded by his nephew, John Biddulph after which history was to repeat itself when another disastrous fire partly destroyed the Palladian mansion. The fire took place in 1826 and was attended by the Petworth fire brigade. Note books held at Petworth record the attendance and also the dispute that arose as to who was to provide and pay for their ale.
In the late 1820s John Biddulph set about commissioning a new house. Between 1828 and 1831 the construction of the present, Neo-classical house was started. The architect for this building was Henry Bassett (b. 1803 – d.-) who designed a three storey mansion with a west facing entrance front. The ground floor is rusticated and forms a podium with two string courses above. The first floor on the main front has a recessed central portion with four fluted Ionic columns forming a ioggia or portico. Balustraded parapets encircle the roof. The south elevation also has projecting end bays with pilasters flanking the first and second floor windows.
John Biddulph died unmarried in 1835, after which the estate passed to Anthony Wright-Biddulph, the descendant of an aunt, though there is a curious anomaly in the 1830s when George Wyndham is recorded as the owner of the park, East Wood and a neighbouring meadow on the Duncton Tithe Map. Burton and Barlavington Parishes (figure 7). Together these maps provide the first real insight into the landscape close to the house. The house, with stables to the north, are surrounded by an enclosed pleasure ground with gardens, trees and kitchen gardens. The park to the north and west of the house has plantations, small copes and a pond, while to the south is Bakehouse Field covered with a scatter of parkland trees running down to Chingford Pond. In the west a drive now runs through East Wood from a small lodge towards the house. This is a significant change from the 1813 OS map of 24 years earlier when no lodge or drive on this alignment are shown. To the east another drive enters the park from Burton Mill, passes Lodge Green and the church before sweeping round to the west front. There are branches off this east drive to the stables and through Lodge Green to Crouch Farm.
The gardens and pleasure grounds around the house are shown dotted with shrubs or small island beds in a manner typical of the period. To the south is a formal pool and further island or shrub beds. Around Lodge Green there are a number of ancillary buildings, commercial enterprises and agricultural operations. A wood yard is depicted immediately south of Black Pond Plantation, with a timber yard further south. To the east is a hop ground, nursery and the kitchen garden while the poultry yard stands to the north west. Even the main area of park between the house and Chingford Pond is referred to as Bakehouse Field suggesting a relatively recent utilitarian usage nearby.
By the time the first edition OS 6” map of 1880 there had been only minor changes in the layout of the park (figure 8). The essential pattern of drives remained intact, though the east approach from Burton Mill may have moved slightly to the north. The gardens and pleasure grounds were still tightly defined around the house and the walled garden to the east was present, though an additional enclosure had been added to the east probably to compensate for the loss of the kitchen garden at Lodge Green which by this time had become an orchard.
In 1894, the 1363 acre Burton Estate was sold to Sir Douglas Hall who made considerable changer to the gardens and grounds before its subsequent sale to Major and Mrs Courtauld in 1919. Sir Douglas Hall was a much travelled explorer, who had recently married and was establishing this first real home at Burton. He is known to have great interest in the estate and commissioned extensive research into its origins. By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century Sir Douglas had laid out a series of paths in the gardens, including a boundary walk along the southern ha-ha. A rosary had been established at the end of the east west path contained by hedges and further paths to the north and south. He also added the north pond to the east of the house and in the wider landscape created a bridge across Chingford Pond to a small summer house on the southern shores. From contemporary descriptions the summer house seems to have been built in the Japanese style with rhododendrons and azaleas framing the structure. Douglas Hall is also attributed with planting a considerable number of trees in the park including several cedars and conifers some of which line the path to the bridge over Chingford Pond. In later years of Sir Douglas’s ownership it appears that Burton Park was leased to a series of tenant (Country Life) until it was purchased by the Courtauld’s in 1919.
As the property had been rented for several years prior to its purchase by the Courtauld’s both the house and the gardens had been neglected. Fortunately, Major Courtauld’s early training as an architect served well in the considerable alterations which took place to the house. The architectural work on the house was balanced by Mrs Courtald’s enthusiasm and taste as a gardener. In the 18 years after 1919 the Courtauld’s made dramatic changes to the property, especially the gardens.
The development of the gardens by the Coultauld’s shows a marked Arts and Crafts influence with highly architectural designs, water terraces, herbaceous borders and the use of local materials. However, the design is also clearly of the 1920’s, being simplified in paving detail and often with less complicated planting patterns.
When the Coultauld’s bought Burton there was a steep slope to the east side of the house which ran down to shrub studded lawns. The new design was to lay out a series of formal terraces from the house down to a reduced lawn with a vista focused on the tall cedar of Lebanon near the ha-ha. Four terraces were created; a paved upper terrace with balustrade, a narrow grass terrace with hemispherical dipping well to the south, a formal rose terrace and a water terrace. In the south of the gardens the path to the Rosary was lined with a pergola and herbaceous planting. A conservatory which had stood against the southern wall of the walled garden was removed and extensive mixed borders laid out. Inside the walled garden the utilitarian glass houses were removed and a formal flower garden created.
To south of the house a new path ran through the herbaceous borders backed by tall yew hedges to a nut walk which descended down the sloping ground to a semi-circular brick landing stage. To the west of the nut walk a new orchard was created, protected from the westerly winds by a screen of mixed conifers and oaks along the ha-ha. Along the path to the bridge over Chingford Pond, Mrs Courtauld developed a rockery garden the north entrance marked by tall cedars, but screened from the house by shrubbery. The rockery also descended the slope to the edge of the water and a small rill was constructed to form an island before the bridge was reached.
To the west and north of the house the nineteenth century character had remained in intact with relatively dense tree and shrub planting providing screening and protection from the winds. The Courtauld’s developed the western front by selectively thinning the trees to open selected views across the park whilst retaining a restrained air to the design.
The house and gardens were requisitioned by the army during the war and subsequently the house, gardens and southern half of the park was sold to St Michael’s school in 1945 -46. The school remained the owners of the site until 1993 when it was sold to three development companies. However, during there tenure the school significantly altered the setting of the house, adding ancillary buildings, developing low key sports facilities and reducing the maintenance on the gardens. The creation of the drive due west of the house can be attributed to the time when St Michael’s School owned the property, though an early date cannot be ruled out. The addition of the tennis courts to the east of the gardens also dates from the school occupancy.
In recent years the house and grounds have undergone significant development with the creation of several apartments in the house and service ranges, additional dwellings built to the north east and a further building programme taking place at Lodge Green.
The northern park passed through a number of ownership’s following division of the estate, including a timber haulage company and the Percy Woodland Trust. Eventually in the 1960’s the northern park was purchased by Mr de Heger. The north east corner of the registered park, known as New Piece and New Piece Moor was bought in 1977 by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and is managed as a nature reserve.