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Burnt House is set within the South Downs National Park, surrounded by National Trust land (Burnt House Brooks) in the Cuckmere Valley. The sea and magnificent Seven Sister Cliffs are all within walking distances via the banks of the Cuckmere river. The area is a rambler’s delight and ideal for cycling enthusiasts. There is a direct access onto the National Park trails adjacent to the house.
Quintessential Alfriston Village is a 10 minute walk from the house. It is a beautiful mediaeval village. Around the village visitors enjoy the famous St Andrew’s church, the National Trust’s Clergy House, and a range of galleries, shops, traditional pubs and restaurants. The Village Store along with Much Ado Books, an interesting book shop situated in Waterloo square are all popular attractions.
Another quaint downland village to visit is Litlington, a 10 minute walk from the house accessed via the modest pedestrian White wooden bridge at Burnt House Brooks. Litlington hosts the Plough and Harrow pub and also the Long Man Brewery who welcome visitors.
The house is a neighbour to the Rathfinny vineyard who are dedicated to producing the best sparkling wine in Sussex. Wine tasting tours are offered and there is also a restaurant for more formal dining.
There are a plethora of places to be discovered close by including the Cuckmere Valley, Birling Gap, Beechey Head, the famous Fisherman Cottages overlooking the Seven Sisters. . Besides seaside fun, children may enjoy Drusilla’s Zoo, the Bluebell Railway and the Cuckoo Trail.
The Coastal towns of Brighton, Lewes and Eastbourne are all within a 30 minute drive.
The benefits and beauty of this Sussex location is that it's a fusion of culture, English countryside
and coastal scapes all in a protected National Park.
(See Photography of the area in the Gallery)
Glyndebourne Opera
The landowner John Christie was a music aficionado, and after moving into the late-Medieval house at Glyndebourne began to host opera evenings in the inter-war years. This eventually led to a theatre being built on the grounds, upgraded in 1992 to a modern performance venue that can seat 1,200. The popular Glyndebourne Festival took off in the wake of the Second World War and now has international fame. There are six productions per season, and something special about each performance, other than its superlative quality, is the 80-minute interval. This is purposely extended to allow you to take a picnic on Glyndebourne’s lawn.
Charleston House, Firle and Monk's House, Rodmell
The Bloomsbury Set was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, EM Forster, Vanesa Bell and Lytton Strachey. This loose collective of friends and relatives was closely associated with the University of Cambridge for the men and King's College London for the women, and they lived, worked or studied together near Bloomsbury, London. While all members of the Bloomsbury group were based in London, they regularly congregated at their various country homes in the South Downs: Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived at Monk’s House near Rodmell; Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell lived at nearby Charleston Farmhouse where they regularly hosted group members and other notable friends; and Maynard Keynes lived at Tilton House with his wife, the Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova.
As their attachment to the Sussex landscape attests, the group was profoundly invested in the English countryside. Both the Woolfs and Keynes campaigned to protect the South Downs, while Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant celebrated its landscapes throughout their artistic careers.