By the end of the 12th Century, the family at the manor house at
Herste had considerable status. Written accounts mention a lady called
Idonea de Herste, who married a Norman nobleman named Ingelram de
Monceux. Around this time, the manor began to be called the 'Herste of
the Monceux’; a name that eventually became Herstmonceux. Essentially, the cast was reclaimed by Henry VIII from the Fiennes family until the time of Elizabeth I. Seventeenth century England was rife with uncertainty and
social unrest, yet the owners of Herstmonceux appear to have prospered,
carrying out renovations and even were able to avoid the extremes of the 1640s
when civil war gripped the country. In 1933 Sir Paul Latham purchased the castle and continued the
process of reconstruction, completing the remodelling of the northern half of
the castle. Extensive work was also undertaken on the gardens and grounds, with
the addition of a tennis court, a swimming pool, extensive plantings and the
excavation and flooding of the moat. Further changes to the castle came during
WWII when it for a brief time housed the Hearts of Oak insurance company which
needed a place where its’ records would be safe from Germany’s Blitz on London.
While Herstmonceux Castle did not see any serious action, it still felt the
effects of the war and was on numerous occasions strafed by German planes. An
RAF camp, part of RAF Wartling, was established on the estate and a large
air-raid shelter was constructed immediately south-west of the drawbridge. In 1946 Sir Paul Latham sold Herstmonceux Castle to the
Admiralty, which established it as the new home of the Royal Greenwich
Observatory. From the early 1950s until 1989 Herstmonceux Castle remained a
centre of scientific research and home to one of the world’s leading
astronomical organizations. However, "light pollution” from the nearby city of
Eastbourne, along with other factors, combined to make staying at Herstmonceux
impractical and in 1989 the RGO was moved to Cambridge. The castle was sold to
developers who planned to turn it into a hotel and golf resort. The idea was
opposed by a group of local residents who formed 'The Society for the
Protection of Herstmonceux Castle'. After a lengthy battle the castle and estate
were saved from the developers. In 1993 the Castle was purchased by Drs. Alfred and Isabel
Bader and donated to Queen’s University, with the intent to establish it as a
centre of international education. Queen’s International Study Centre was born,
and in 1994, after extensive renovations to transform bedrooms into offices and
work areas into classrooms, the first students arrived. Since that time the
Bader International Study Centre has continued to grow and today welcomes
students from around the globe. (See Herstmonceux Castle website)
In other news, caste life is awful. It is British boarding school food on a timed schedule (8, noon, and 5). Typical meals are slop, stew, and potatoes. It means a whole lot of spinach salads for all meals of the day. I appreciate meals outside of the castle and raw crunchy vegetables a little bit more now.
The photos below are the castle and the set of girls at the castle. The "bros" are an interesting crew for sure. Nothing much else is to tell about the castle - we hang out in classrooms or the pub on campus. It is a tame lifestyle that is very moderated and scheduled.
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