The Shrine, West Sussex - January 2016

I first visited this place in March 2015 with my other half. She told me about it the night we met and a few weeks later we went there together. It was a great day out and I have been wanting to go back for ever since.

Rumour has it that this is a shrine built by an eccentric many years ago in memory of his late wife, or some say that it was for his mother. Ive also heard it is a mausoleum, and the deceased was said to have been buried here but I have also heard they were buried in a cemetery elsewhere. So yeah, it's anyone's guess really! It is built from reclaimed parts of old church buildings next to a lake. There are some very out of place trees planted around the place and it is a bit of a head scratcher the first time you see palm trees nestled away in the middle of the Sussex woods. It is impossible to get inside but after visiting once I have always had it in the back of my mind because it is shrouded in so much mystery. I have no other info and everything I have gathered has been given to me by others. I would love to know more about it. Someone put a lot of effort into this place and after they passed away it has been forgotten about. I have been looking forward to a re-visit for a long time. Something about this place really intrigues me.

New fences had been put up since our last visit so we decided to enter via the way we had left the last time. It was a cold wet day and we had walked for miles but it was a nice feeling catching the first glimpse of this place from across the lake.






There were quite a few plinths dotted around that supposedly had cannons on them.





And lots of items that appeared to be from old churches.

















On the opposite side of the lake there was a small outbuilding.





This was carved in to one of the rafters in the roof. I am not convinced this was the build date, the wood looks reasonably young with little sign of and natural weathering and there was no sign of birds nesting etc. I didn't notice this carving first time around and it has made me even more curious about it's history.



This pic was taken on my phone the first visit time we visited. I really wanted to re-take this but the lake was covered in algae and sadly the boat was nowhere to be seen.



I really wish I could find out more about this place. It is a beautiful little spot hidden away in the woods and I have never seen anything like it before!

Thanks for looking!

looks a beautiful place - very unusaul - thanks for sharing

What a crazy place! I like it.

What a fantastically evocative place.

That is a bit nice, I enjoyed it, Thanks

Incredible! I want one!
What a lovely place, your photos have done it justice too. Thanks for sharing

This is different and most unusual.

You should be looking for the local landowner around 1900 to 1940. A search in the land registry records and local County Council archives should provide details. Also you should research large scale OS maps over the same period. Actually places like these are not that unusual, especially if there is an old 'manor' house (standing or demolished) in the immediate area. In a number of places one can find strangely planted woodlands and folly like ruins, slowly being reclaimed by nature and if one is lucky, not too far away, the remnants of the foundations of a large house. The woods and gardens of long demolished Rounton Grange at East Rounton, where Gertrude Bell lived are a prime example of this. Gertrude Bell spent the period from 1892 to 1912 travelling in Arabia, Syria, Anatolia and all over the desert living amongst the Tribal Leaders. In 1915 she was called up by British Intelligence and posted to the Middle East - A Cedar of Lebanon, that she planted from a seed gathered in her earlier travels, reveals its self when you wander around the overgrown woodland and garden. A true Yorkshire lass with grit!

As for the carved date - The font and style of the carving is certainly 1910 / 1930's and I find nothing peculiar with the appearance of the timber. If the suggestion is that the building is older than 1929, then answer is that a person with some pride in his work, re-roofed this little shelter in 1929. Pity that the Oak seat that once would have sat in this place has long gone.

Your other half knows all the good places lol and what a beautiful place this is. Fantastic report and photos

That's a great location and I enjoyed the write up would be interesting to see inside ...

Very interesting. Thank you for posting.

Dirus_Strictus said:

You should be looking for the local landowner around 1900 to 1940. A search in the land registry records and local County Council archives should provide details. Also you should research large scale OS maps over the same period. Actually places like these are not that unusual, especially if there is an old 'manor' house (standing or demolished) in the immediate area. In a number of places one can find strangely planted woodlands and folly like ruins, slowly being reclaimed by nature and if one is lucky, not too far away, the remnants of the foundations of a large house. The woods and gardens of long demolished Rounton Grange at East Rounton, where Gertrude Bell lived are a prime example of this. Gertrude Bell spent the period from 1892 to 1912 travelling in Arabia, Syria, Anatolia and all over the desert living amongst the Tribal Leaders. In 1915 she was called up by British Intelligence and posted to the Middle East - A Cedar of Lebanon, that she planted from a seed gathered in her earlier travels, reveals its self when you wander around the overgrown woodland and garden. A true Yorkshire lass with grit!

As for the carved date - The font and style of the carving is certainly 1910 / 1930's and I find nothing peculiar with the appearance of the timber. If the suggestion is that the building is older than 1929, then answer is that a person with some pride in his work, re-roofed this little shelter in 1929. Pity that the Oak seat that once would have sat in this place has long gone.

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That is some great advice, thanks! It is indeed built near to places that will help me track down info. I really appreciate your response.


And thanks to everyone else for the comments!

Hi Brewtal.

I'm just thinking that it's probably not a great idea not to be so specific about the location, as anyone can read these posts (and they will). Before you know it this place will get trashed. Just a thought....

urban-dorset said:

Hi Brewtal.

I'm just thinking that it's probably not a great idea not to be so specific about the location, as anyone can read these posts (and they will). Before you know it this place will get trashed. Just a thought....

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Wow sorry you are totally right! Totally overlooked that! I will edit my previous comment. Cheers!

Done. Many thanks for the prompt!

The building was indeed built in the 1920's by all accounts and belongs to Sedgwick Estate, having been built as a shrine to the guys mother who allegedly was buried inside. Having grown up in Horsham there has always been much mystery and rumour about this place over the years. I remember cycling there as a kid 1985'ish I would guess and there were indeed ornate cannons on the plinths back then and various other items dotted about that have long since disappeared. The last time I stopped by for a look an alarm went off whilst walking around the building so I left only to pass a land rover travelling at speed towards the place. Another strange point is that no one you speak to locally will ever divulge any detail on the place, a real mystery... If you type Sedgwick Castle into your search engine you'll come up with some info on the area.

love this...

Liking this a lot,thanks for sharing.

Hello mate! Thanks very much for sharing! Could you please privet message me asap please as im new and cant work this site out yet lol. Amazing pictures and I look forward to you messaging me! Cheers buddy.

What a crazy yet stunning place. Love the look of this.