Poynings  ·  West Sussex

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Welcome! This website has been put together by Downmere’s current owners to celebrate and share the rich history of the home which they cherish.

The House & Its Grounds

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Nestled beneath the South Downs in the ancient village of Poynings, Downmere stands upon land that has been inhabited, farmed, fished and loved since at least the Norman Conquest. The property’s lake — fed by the chalk aquifer beneath the Downs — was already noted as a pleasure garden belonging to the de Poynings family in 1339. Today its stream, ornamental lake, terraced lawns and mature specimen trees form one of West Sussex’s most tranquil private gardens.

The present buildings were begun in 1908 by Charles Heath Clark, a pioneering tea merchant, and extended before the First World War in the Arts & Crafts manner. The Gatehouse’s clock tower — whose clock was made by the Croydon firm Gillett & Johnston, makers of clocks for Sydney Town Hall and St James’s Palace — has marked the hours in Poynings for over a century.

Its terraced garden, its depth of woods, its breezy downs, its never failing brook which, then embanked into a succession of fishponds, ran sparkling in its lively course through the ever verdant meadows. Sussex History, 1863 — describing the lands of Downmere

A Thousand Years in Brief

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1086
The Domesday Survey
William the Conqueror grants the Hundred of Poynings to Earl Warenne, who bestows it upon William son of Rainald de Poynings. The land that will become Downmere is part of a great manor encompassing fishponds, mill and meadow.
1339
A Pleasure Garden Recorded
The earliest written record of a park and pleasure garden abutting the manor — part of which was the land at Downmere. The de Poynings family tend its terraced grounds and fishponds for generations to come.
1369
Michael de Poynings
Michael de Poynings — the first of his line to be ennobled — dies, leaving his ruby ring as the charter of his heritage at Poynings. His wife Joan holds the manor briefly before it passes to their son Thomas.
1537
Henry VIII & the Browne Family
King Henry VIII grants the manor to Sir Anthony Browne, whose descendants — the Viscounts Montagu — hold Poynings for two and a half centuries. In 1783 two young boys drown in the Court Gardens Pond (now part of Downmere), and a “Haunted Pool” legend is born.
1815–1847
Dr Samuel Holland, Rector
The scholar-priest Dr Samuel Holland — whose wife Frances was daughter of Lord Erskine, Lord Chancellor of England — becomes rector of Poynings and manages the glebe lands. He arranges the removal of two old cottages on Gravely Plot, which forms the heart of today’s Downmere.
1908
Charles Heath Clark Builds
Charles Heath Clark, chairman of Harrison & Crosfield and pioneer of packaged tea, purchases the land and begins building a weekend cottage. Extensions follow in 1913, designed in the Arts & Crafts style by Messrs Ernest G. Allen & Partners — including the Gatehouse and its celebrated clock tower.
1924
The Name “Downmere” Appears
George Larritt Polsue, a Cornish printer and publisher, purchases what was previously called Brookside. The 1924 electoral register records the property as “Down Mere” for the very first time.
1924–1929
The Barclay Family
Nevile Barclay — of the Barclay Perkins brewing dynasty connected to Barclays Bank — acquires Downmere. His father Edwyn, a brewer who was notably also a temperance sympathiser, is active on the Poynings parish council. Church meetings are held at Downmere.
1929–1945
Edgar & Maud Stewart-Baxter
Edgar and Maud Stewart-Baxter bring Downmere into the cultural life of the county. Maud, a composer and violinist trained at the Royal Academy of Music, holds concerts and garden parties here. During the Second World War the property is requisitioned by the War Office at £295 per year.
1945–1978
Sir Emile & Lady Cora Littler
The theatre impresario Sir Emile Littler — knighted in 1974, known as “Mr Pantomime” and director of the Palace Theatre London — and his wife Cora Goffin, the celebrated West End star, make Downmere their beloved Sussex home for over three decades. In the mid-1950s Emile gifted the path at the bottom of the gardens (leading from the church to the pub) to the village, named “Cora’s Walk” in her honour, and built a stone shelter opposite the church known as “Cora’s Corner” — with two benches inscribed with the names of their daughters Judy and Merrilee — a gesture of affection for the community that still stands today.
1978–2015
Geoffrey & Josephine Harris
Geoffrey Harris, a Sussex farmer and co-founder of Springs Smoked Salmon of Edburton, purchases Downmere from the Littlers and tends its gardens for nearly four decades. Emile Littler writes warmly to the new owners: “For us it was a very, very happy home.”
2024
A New Chapter Begins
In May 2024, Rupert and Kerri purchased Downmere as their new family home, kicking off a brand new chapter.

In Numbers

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c.938
Years of recorded history
From the Domesday Survey of 1086 to the present day
1339
First mention of the pleasure garden
The fishponds and terraced grounds described in records of the de Poynings family
7+
Acres of grounds
Stream, ornamental lake, orchard, terraced lawns, rockeries & kitchen garden
1908
Year the buildings began
Designed in the Arts & Crafts manner; the Gatehouse and clock tower added c.1913
33
Years of Littler ownership
The longest single ownership in the modern era — Sir Emile & Lady Cora, 1945–1978
1974
Knighthood awarded
Sir Emile Littler knighted for services to charity while living at Downmere

Notable Owners & Residents

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c.1086 – 1535
The de Poynings Family
Norman lords who gave their name to the village itself. Michael de Poynings was the first Baron Poynings (c.1339). His heraldic arms — gold and green with a red diagonal — still adorn Poynings church.
1537 – 1797
The Viscounts Montagu
Sir Anthony Browne received the manor from Henry VIII; his descendants held Poynings as Viscounts Montagu for over two and a half centuries until the line died out.
1815 – 1847
Dr Samuel Holland
Oxford and Cambridge scholar, physician, priest and rector of Poynings. His wife Frances was the eldest daughter of Thomas Lord Erskine, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. Both are interred in Holy Trinity Church.
1908 – 1923
Charles Heath Clark JP
Chairman of Harrison & Crosfield, pioneer of packaged tea, Justice of the Peace and twice Mayor of Croydon. Builder of Downmere’s Arts & Crafts house and the Gatehouse with its celebrated clock tower.
1929 – 1945
Maud Stewart-Baxter
Violinist and composer trained at both the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music. Her compositions include Our Lady’s Bedstraw and Lover’s Sighs. She held garden parties at Downmere and organised concerts to light the village church.
1945 – 1978
Sir Emile & Lady Cora Littler
He was “Mr Pantomime” — director of the Palace Theatre London, knighted 1974. She was a celebrated West End star whose legs were insured for £20,000. Their gifts to the village — Cora’s Walk, Cora’s Corner, and its benches inscribed with daughters’ names Judy and Merrilee — remain a cherished part of Poynings to this day.

Poynings, West Sussex

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Downmere lies in the village of Poynings, sheltered beneath the South Downs escarpment and the great chalk valley of Devil’s Dyke — five miles north of Brighton and within easy reach of London.

The village itself has been continuously inhabited since Saxon times and takes its name from an Old English settler called Pūna. Holy Trinity Church, whose tower watches over Downmere’s grounds, dates from 1370 and was rebuilt following bequests from Michael de Poynings himself.

Poynings is part of the South Downs National Park