Beauport Park is a house near Hastings

Hastings

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

, East Sussex

East Sussex

East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

, England. It is located at the western end of the ridge of hills sheltering Hastings from the north and east.

Early history

The first mention of Beauport Park is when General Sir James Murray is shown on local records as paying rates on some woodland. He built the house between 1763 and 1766, subsequently adding to the estate until it comprised about 5000 acres (20.2 km²). Murray, who had served in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, named the estate after Beauport in Canada. It was Murray who started the tradition of planting rare and unusual trees on the estate.

Following Murray's death in 1794, Beauport Park was then purchased by James Bland Burgess

James Bland Burgess

Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Baronet , born James Burges and known as Sir James Burges, Bt, between 1795 and 1821, was a British author, barrister and Member of Parliament.-Background and education:...

 who served as Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to William Pitt

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

. An obelisk which stands opposite the front of the hotel is in memory of James Burgess' second son, Ensign Wentworth Noel Burgess, who was killed in 1812 in the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

, aged 18, whilst leading an assault on the citadel of Burgos

Burgos

Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...

 in Northern Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. In 1821, James and his eldest son Charles changed their name to Lamb in honour of John Lamb, a benefactor of theirs. An Ionic temple was built on the estate together with two life-size memorials which still remain.

By 1860, the estate was owned by Sir Charles Lamb's son, Archibald, who leased the house to Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...

, a leading railway engineer of his day. After Thomas Brassey died in 1870 the lease was inherited by his son who later became Lord Brassey

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey GCB, JP, DL, TD , was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of The Naval Annual.-Background and education:...

.

Recent history

In 1923 a fire broke out and despite efforts by firemen from Battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

 and Hastings

Hastings

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

 taking water from nearby ponds, the fire spread rapidly and the entire building was gutted. The house was rebuilt in 1926.

Little is known about the house during the period that follows its reconstruction in 1926 up until the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 but at the beginning of the war an underground citadel

Citadel

A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....

, consisting of tunnels and chambers, was built by the Canadians and was intended as a hiding place for a secret resistance army which would have fought behind the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 lines following the expected invasion of Britain. After the war, the house became a hotel.

In 1983 the hotel was bought by Ken Melsom and Stephen Bayes and in 2005 Duncan Bannatyne

Duncan Bannatyne

Duncan Walker Bannatyne, OBE is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, stage schools, property and transport. He is most famous for his appearance as a business angel on the BBC programme Dragons' Den...

opened a health club on the estate: Bannatyne went on to buy the hotel as well in 2007.

The estate now comprises the hotel, the health club, a riding school, a caravan park, a 186 acre (0.75271596 km²) golf course and 164 acre (0.66368504 km²) of surrounding woodland.