 | The Manor House has been here for 500 years. The Ashdown Forest used to be a Royal Hunting Ground and home to deer, which could only be hunted by members of the Royal family. In order to keep the deer in, the Ashdown forest was surrounded by a ditch and bank (the soil from the ditch used to make up the bank) that was called the "pale". The "common" people were allowed to let their animals graze on the Forest, but could only gain entry via one of 32 Gates and Hatches that made up the Old Forest Pale. Originally, Barnsgate was one of the Gates onto the Ashdown Forest. It was also a farm.
In the 1970s the Austrian/German Wine Company PIEROTH utilised the site as an outlet for their wines.
The current owners, Keith & Linda Johnson, purchased the vineyard in 1989 as a retirement venture! |
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history
near Uckfield