For the past 500 years and more, people have been visiting Herstmonceux Castle to admire its impressive design, its unique brickwork, beautiful gardens and setting within the Sussex landscape. Its visitors include the likes of Horace Walpole, William Wilberforce, J.M.W. Turner, King George V, Virginia Wolf, Diana Cooper, Violet Bonham Carter, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Patrick Moore, Stephen Hawking and Queen Elizabeth II.
Our castle has attracted writers and artists, tourists and antiquaries, aristocrats and debutantes, soldiers and scientists. Today it continues to attract students interested in actively participating in a unique learning experience in an international setting.
Some important dates in our history:
1441
Roger Fiennes, a Sussex Knight, petitions the Crown for the right to "crenellate" or fortify his manor Herstmonceux.
1541
Sir Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre, is tried and executed for murder, and robbery of the King's deer, after his poaching exploits on a neighboring estate implicate him in the death of a gamekeeper. The estate is confiscated by King Henry VIII.
1558 - 1603
Reign of Queen Elizabeth I - during which time the estate is returned to the Fiennes family.
1642 - 1651
English Civil War - renovations are carried out to the Castle and the extremes of the 1640s are avoided.
1660 - 1685
The Restoration Period - a significant amount of money is spent refurbishing the castle including new fireplaces and elaborate oak carvings by Grinling Gibbons.
1708
Excessive gambling, the cost of renovations, and the lavish merriment of the 15th Baron Dacre (heir to the Fiennes family) bankrupt the family and the estate is sold to George Naylor for £38,000 (the equivalent of approximately £4 million in 2018).
1777
Samuel Wyatt, a well-known architect, pronounces the castle to be in such a poor state of repair that it is not worth saving. Furniture is sold off, the wood paneling removed, and the interior walls torn down.
1910
The eccentric MP Colonel Claude Lowther purchases the estate with a view to restoring the castle to its former glory and creating a grand country home. Extensive restorations are undertaken and the southern half of the castle is transformed.
1933
Sir Paul Latham purchases the castle and the architect Walter Godfrey continues the process of reconstruction, completing the remodeling of the northern half of the castle. Extensive work is also undertaken on the gardens and grounds, with the addition of a tennis court, a swimming pool, extensive plantings and the excavation and flooding of the moat.
1939 - 1945
Second World War - during which time the Hearts of Oak insurance company (pictured at the top of this page) relocates to the Castle to avoid the Blitz in London. An RAF camp, part of RAF Wartling, is also established on the estate.
1946
Sir Paul Latham sells Herstmonceux Castle to the Admiralty.
1957
The Royal Greenwich Observatory is established at Herstmonceux.
1988
The Royal Greenwich Observatory moves to Cambridge and the estate closes.
1993
Drs. Alfred and Isabel Bader purchase the castle and donate it to Queen's University - Alfred's alma mater.
1994
After extensive renovations the International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle opens to students.
2009
The ISC is renamed the Bader International Study Centre.
2022
In June 2022, Principal Patrick Deane announces the change of name from The Bader International Study Centre, to Bader College.